County In For Rain, Fog as the New Year Begins

Clouds may cover New Year skies today and bring light sprinkles, but the subtropical moisture invading the county will bring more fog than rain, according to the National Weather Service.

A mass of moist air over the Pacific that moved in from the southwest is expected to cover San Diego County through Thursday, bringing mid- to high-level clouds, an increase in humidity and lingering morning fog from the coast to the mountain slopes, forecasters said Tuesday.

According to forecaster Richard Stitt, sprinkling rain is expected in all parts of the county, but no measurable rain was predicted through Thursday. That may arrive by Friday, however, from the Pacific Northwest.

Humidity began rising Monday night and will continue high until the weekend, forecasters said. Humidity was a dry 28% at Lindbergh Field on Monday at noon, but Tuesday it did not drop below 70%, Stitt said.

Daytime temperatures are expected to be normal through the week, with highs in the 60s along the coast and inland. Nights will continue slightly warmer than average with coastal lows in the 50s and inland lows between 44 and 52 degrees.

Temperatures returned to average Tuesday after nearly two weeks of unseasonably warm weather. Except for Dec. 26, temperatures were above normal Dec. 16 through Monday.

Normal rainfall for Jan. 1 is .06 of an inch at Lindbergh Field, but forecasters do not expect showers heavy enough to record today, Stitt said.

According to meteorologist Wilbur Shigehara’s year-end weather report, last January was extremely dry, with .52 inches of rain in a month that normally receives 2.11 inches. Unseasonably dry weather continued for the first five months of the year, marking the sixth driest such period on record.

Drier than average months continued until September, when an average .2 of an inch fell. But November weather surprised San Diego with 4.92 inches, making it the third wettest on record and shooting the yearly rain total close to normal. Normal rainfall for November is 1.10 inches.

November was also the third cloudiest on record with only 64% of possible sunshine. It is normally the sunniest month of the year.

Other notable 1985 weather days include record-breaking highs of 95 on July 1 and 9 in what was the second hottest July on record; the hottest day of the year on Oct. 3, with a record temperature of 98; and the coldest nights of the year on Dec. 12 and 13, with lows of 38 degrees at Lindbergh Field.

Today’s New Year Day temperatures in the mountains are expected to be from 55 to 63 and from 37 to 45 at night. Desert highs in the mid-60s to mid-70s will fall to the mid-40s to mid-50s at night.