Santa to Be Working in Shirtsleeves This Year

Stow the sleigh bells.

Leave the woolies in the cedar chest and forget the earmuffs. There will be no nip in the air this Christmas season--at least not in Southern California, where moderate Santa Ana winds have been keeping temperatures in the balmy high 70s and low 80s without a snowflake in sight.

Even though a wide high-pressure area is showing signs of sliding eastward, allowing gusty northeast winds below the canyons to weaken slightly, most of the Southland should remain warm throughout the rest of the week, the National Weather Service said Tuesday.

For Christmas week itself, forecasters said, average Southland temperatures will be above normal for this time of the year. Little or no precipitation is expected, so it will be tough sledding for the giveaway artist in the red suit.

Temperatures in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday climbed to 82 degrees. The high was just one degree short of the record for the date, set in 1979. Relative humidity ranged from 43% to 16%.

It should be mostly clear through Thursday. Gusty winds up to 25 m.p.h. below the canyons are likely to diminish today. Coastal highs will be in the upper 70s and low 80s today.

In the Southern California mountains, days will be slightly warmer than they have been with highs mostly in the middle to upper 50s. Peak readings will be in the 60s and low 70s in the northern deserts and in the 70s to low 80s in the southern deserts.

The same high pressure bringing the warm weather and generally protecting the state from North Pacific storm systems has been causing dense fog in Northern and Central California, however. Traveler advisories because of near-zero visibility Tuesday morning were issued for Contra Costa, eastern Alameda, Napa, Sonoma and northern Marin counties in the Bay Area.

Travelers were also warned about thick fog Tuesday morning in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys.