From Balmy to Crummy in Mere Hours

It couldn’t last forever. After three days of balmy weather, the forecast is for muggy heat and lots of sunshine today and through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service in San Diego.

Despite the 15-foot surf rolling into Orange County, surf in San Diego will continue to peak at a relatively mild 3 to 5 feet.

“It was so nice Wednesday and Thursday,” said forecaster Wilbur Shigehara. The temperature Thursday was 77 degrees, just what the record books said it should be for the end of July.

“The pleasant air came in from the Gulf of Alaska. It was nice and refreshing,” Shigehara said. “But there’ll be a change today.”

The high pressure that has plagued San Diego this summer is rebuilding, bringing with it warmer weather and more moisture from Mexico, he said.

To add to the picture, not one but two hurricanes are hovering in the Pacific and could bring rain by Monday. “Some clouds could come our way next week, maybe by Sunday.”

Hurricane Iselle is about 630 miles due south of San Diego, and Hurricane Hernan is about 930 miles away.

“When a hurricane gets within 600 miles, it makes me nervous,” Shigehara said. “We need to keep a watchful eye on them. We could get surprises.”

Meanwhile, the big surf that some hoped would roll in never materialized. While surf in Newport Beach curled as high as 15 feet, the waves off San Diego peaked at 6 feet at Imperial Beach and Oceanside.

“Our surf is up, but it’s not as big as farther north” because San Diego County beaches are more protected, Shigehara said.

“We got a pretty big swell for about two days,” Oceanside lifeguard Al Keith said Thursday. “Good, solid waves of 3 to 6 feet were coming in, but there haven’t been an unusually high number of surfers out.”

At Imperial Beach, waves were at 4 to 6 feet Wednesday, at 5 feet occasionally Thursday, said lifeguard Ben Holt. With a water temperature of 73 degrees, “we’ve had quite a few people out, about 10,000, but only two rescues,” he said.

Beach-goers can expect plenty of sunshine and few clouds today and on the weekend, Shigehara said. Temperatures will range from 70 to 76, with breezes of 10 to 15 m.p.h. and surf at 3 to 4 feet.

In the coastal strip, the mercury will hit 77 to 85 during the day, 64 to 70 at night. On Saturday night, the temperature will hover between 67 and 71.

Inland highs will be 86 to 96, with lows of 60 to 65, climbing a couple of degrees Saturday night.

Mountain and desert residents should keep an eye out for thunderstorms as the high pressure begins to build again and moisture flows up from Mexico, Shigehara said. Mountain highs will range from 80 to 86, dropping to 50 to 56 Friday night and 55 to 62 Saturday night.

Desert highs will be 105 to 112, with lows in the 70s Friday night and in the low to mid-80s by Saturday night.