Thunderstorms Possible : At Long Last, Summer Weather Arrives in S.D.

San Diegans will finally get a dose of summer weather during this first weekend of August--not only of the good variety but some of the bad as well, the National Weather Service said.

The night and morning low clouds will be limited to the very late night and early morning hours, with lots of sunshine in the afternoon hours today and Saturday, National Weather Service forecaster Wilbur Shigehara said.

The bad news is that, by Sunday, a “typical summer” tropical storm will likely bring thunderstorms to the mountains and deserts and humidity, partly cloudy, and high temperatures to other parts of the county, according to Shigehara.

Tropical Storm Greg is 500 miles west of Acapulco and is expected to head northwest up the west coast of Baja California, he said.

“As the effects of Greg come our way, we’ll have clouds, lots of humidity, hot temperatures, and of course thunderstorms in our mountains and deserts,” he said. “There’s lots of heat involved with this tropical storm, and the coastal areas could see temperatures in the low 80s, with inland highs possibly in the upper 90s by Sunday.”

‘A Very Strange Month’

The high temperature at Lindbergh Field hit 76 degrees Thursday, tying the normal for the date mark. The last time the high at the airport hit the normal mark was July 1, Shigehara said.

“We’ve had to wait until the last couple of days of July to get up to normal,” he said. “This has been a very strange month, to say the least. We had high level winds from the Gulf of Alaska blowing in until very recently, and that’s really affected our temperatures.”

Shigehara said that, while it is unofficial because July is not over yet, the average high temperature for the month will probably be about 3.3 degrees below normal, putting July, 1987, in the top one-third of coldest Julys on record.

While 70.3 degrees is the normal average high for July, 67 degrees is the average high for this month to date. The record low high temperature average is 64.4 degrees, set in 1880.

This July will not win any awards for the amount of sunshine breaking through, either. While a daily average of 68% of possible sunshine is normal in July, there had been a daily average of 55% of possible sunshine through Wednesday, according to Shigehara. The record for least amount of sunshine in July is 40%, set in 1976.

“I don’t think anyone will miss this July’s weather,” Shigehara said. “Those who like warm temperatures will finally be happy this weekend.”

The Surf Will Be Normal

Coastal highs will range from 73 to 78 today through Saturday, nudging up a few degrees on Sunday along with the humidity. Lows will be in the 60- to 65-degree range.

Surf, unaffected by tropical storm Greg according to Shigehara, will remain two to four feet, with ocean temperature near 66 degrees.

Inland valleys will have highs between 85 and 92 today and Saturday, creeping into the mid- and upper 90s on Sunday. Overnight lows will be in the upper 50s and low 60s.

Mountains and deserts will be mostly fair through Saturday, with increasing clouds and a good chance of thunderstorms by Saturday night. Mountain highs will range from 82 to 87 today and Saturday, hitting 90 by Sunday. Lows will be in the 47- to 57-degree range. Deserts will have highs between 106 and 114, with lows ranging from 73 to 83 through the weekend.