Weekend Shaping Up Warm--Until the Sun Goes Down

The coldest nights in almost a year are expected this weekend, but mild daytime temperatures and fair skies are the consolation prizes for San Diegans, the National Weather Service said.

A weak Santa Ana condition will continue through Tuesday or Wednesday, when the fair skies will give way to another storm slowly approaching from the eastern Pacific, forecaster Wilbur Shigehara said.

“Enjoy the nice weather while you can, because more rain is coming toward the middle of next week,” Shigehara said. “It could reach here as early as Tuesday, but until then we’ll have quite mild and clear days and very cold nights.”

Overnight lows will dip into the teens in the mountains, the 20s in the coldest inland areas and the 30s in many other areas, Shigehara said. They are expected to be the coldest nights since the end of February, he said.

“Just because the days are going to be comfortable and mild, it doesn’t mean the nights are going to be,” he said. “As soon as it gets dark, the temperatures are just going to plummet.”

A frost warning for the agricultural areas has been issued for each night this weekend, and growers are urged to protect their crops.

“We have informed growers that overnight low temperatures in some of the coldest inland areas will be hovering around 26 or 27 degrees,” Shigehara said. “All crops will require frost protection if they do indeed dip down that low. It is not only the inland areas that may be affected, since we expect overnight temperatures in the low 30s in some coastal areas as well.”

The snow from this week’s storms will linger in the county’s mountains because of the low temperatures, Shigehara said. Mt. Laguna has nine inches of snow on the ground, and Palomar Mountain has three to four inches. Daytime highs will be in the upper 40s, with lows in the teens expected in all local mountain areas.

Beaches will have highs in the mid-60s today and Saturday, nudging up to right around 70 degrees by Sunday. Surf will be between three and five feet, with occasional six-foot waves at west-facing beaches. Ocean temperature will be near 60 degrees.

Inland areas will also have highs in the mid-60s today, increasing to the upper 60s Saturday and the low 70s by Sunday. Overnight lows will be in the upper 30s and low 40s in most inland areas, and the upper 20s in the coldest valleys.