How Dry Is It? Stick Around, It May Soon Break the Record

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas--in a desert.

If the lip-chapping, cuticle-cracking weather holds three more weeks, San Diego will experience the driest year since meteorologists started keeping track in 1850, the National Weather Service said.

Back-to-back Santa Anas in the last few weeks and a meager 2.82 inches of rain since Jan. 1 have 1989 rivaling 1863 for the driest year on record, said forecaster Wilbur Shigehara. The usual annual rainfall for San Diego is about 9 inches, he said.

“We’ve always had more than 3 inches of rain,” Shigehara said. “There was one year, 1863, when we only got 3.02 inches, but I think this year will go into the books.”

Normally the fourth wettest month of the year, December so far has had no rain, and the 30-day extended forecast shows none in sight, Shigehara said. Another Santa Ana is expected late Sunday and could clinch the matter.

At Lindbergh Field on Thursday, the high was 80 degrees with a humidity level of 14%, Shigehara said. The normal high for this time of year is 67 degrees with a humidity reading of 61%.

Shigehara says that, although weather history doesn’t always repeat itself, there have been many ultra-dry autumns that have segued into wet and wild winters.

“I’m not giving up hope yet,” Shigehara said. “We have a 50-50 chance of normal rain returning in January; it doesn’t take long for the rain to bounce back.”

Highs at the beaches today will range from 68 to 72 and 64 to 68 on the weekend. Water temperature is 59 degrees and the surf is 3 to 4 feet.

The high tides will begin to climb this weekend, starting today with 6.1 feet at 5:17 a.m., Shigehara said. The high tide Saturday will be 6.7 feet, and 7.2 feet on Sunday at 6:43 a.m.

Coastal highs today will be 72 to 77, and 68 to 74 Saturday and Sunday, Shigehara said. Overnight lows will range from 45 to 52.

Sunny days untouched by fog and clouds are forecast for the inland areas. Highs today will range from 75 to 83, and from 73 to 78 on the weekend. Overnight lows will be 34 to 44 tonight and 36 to 46 Saturday.

Daytime temperatures in the mountains will be a nippy 48 to 58 degrees this weekend, with downright cold overnight lows in the upper 20s, Shigehara said.