Santa Barbara County’s South Coast will bask in sunshine and daytime temperatures near 80 on Monday, but gale-force winds in the outer Santa Barbara Channel will make for hazardous seas and a high risk of rip currents.

The National Weather Service said increasing northwest winds are expected Monday and Tuesday in the outer waters south of Point Conception and along the shore north of it. As wind speed rises to gale-force levels, seas of 17 to 19 feet are possible, weather officials say. Rip currents are likely along area beaches.

Onshore, however, light and variable winds of 5 to 10 mph are forecast for Monday afternoon, with gusts as high as 15 mph.

The weather service said west to northwest winds gusting to 40 knots, or about 46 mph, are expected along the South Coast on Tuesday night with windy conditions likely to continue through Thursday.

The forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday calls for early patchy fog and cloudy conditions through midmorning, followed by gradual clearing with high temperatures in the low 70s.

The rest of the week — including the weekend — is expected to be mostly cloudy with daytime highs in the mid- to upper 60s.

» Click here for the complete National Weather Service forecast.

» Click here for the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Services. Click here to sign up for the OES’ messaging service. Connect with the OES on Facebook.

— Noozhawk publisher Bill Macfadyen can be reached at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.