County Will Warm Up a Bit After Record Low

After producing a record-breaking low temperature Sunday in San Diego, swirling snow on outlying mountain roads and damaging some avocado groves, the worst of the Arctic Express that invaded the county over the weekend should be over, forecasters said Sunday.

With the snow on the distant mountains visible Sunday from downtown San Diego, forecasters predicted that days will be increasingly warmer but that nights will remain cold through Christmas Day.

Nightly lows, however, were expected to warm a bit from the record cold Sunday at San Diego’s Lindbergh Field--36 degrees, one degree colder than the 37-degree reading that had stood as the low mark for Dec. 23 since 1891. The lowest low Sunday in the county was all of 7 degrees at Mt. Laguna, National Weather Service officials said.

Though the worst of the cold wave arrived early Sunday morning, forecasters warned avocado and citrus growers that temperatures in the groves and orchards might remain in the mid-20s through the next few nights, cold enough to cause crop damage.

Over the weekend, avocado producers “definitely suffered some damage,” said Phil Henry, vice president of Henry Avocado Co. in Escondido, one of the largest independent avocado packing houses in Southern California.

However, the extent of the damage to the county’s avocado crop, the largest in California, won’t be known until workers walk through the groves today, Henry said.

Already, growers have “seen some damage to the leaves on the avocado trees,” Henry said Sunday. But, since many groves were dampened Saturday night with 40-degree water and because a slight breeze very early Sunday appeared to have mixed warmer air with the cold, growers were “cautiously optimistic,” he said.

San Diego County produces about 40% of the state’s avocado crop. California’s avocado industry is a $200-million annual business.

California Highway Patrol officers reported Sunday that holiday traffic was slowed by blowing snow near Julian and high winds on Interstate 8 from Kitchen Creek Road east to the Imperial County line. Chains were suggested or required on various mountain roads in northern reaches of San Diego County, officers said.

Even with the snow and wind, officers reported no serious accidents on the roads.

In the mountains, temperatures dropped Sunday to 15 at Julian, 14 at Palomar Mountain and 12 at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, the Weather Service said.

Around the county’s coast and its inland valleys, lows Sunday were 25 at Alpine and Del Mar, 26 at El Cajon and Escondido and 29 at Oceanside and Ramona.

The unusual cold produced heavy demand for home-warming gas but “nothing unusual,” said a spokeswoman for San Diego Gas & Electric.

The utility supplied about 200 million cubic feet of gas Sunday, well below the peak figure of 350 million cubic feet, said spokeswoman Barbara Jarvis. “We’re fine,” she said.

In Imperial Beach, a heater apparently ignited a dry Christmas tree, sparking a fire early Sunday that caused $250,000 damage to a two-story house in the 700 block of 3rd Street, San Diego County sheriff’s deputies said. Five adults and two children escaped from the house, deputies said.

County, city and privately run shelters were open Sunday around the county, including the city’s traditional holiday shelter in downtown San Diego, near City Hall.

The forecast through Tuesday, according to the weather service, is for occasional clouds but no rain throughout San Diego County.

Along the coast, highs should be 53 to 58 today, warming Tuesday to 56 to 63. Lows today should be 34 to 44, the service said.

Inland, highs today are due to be 56 to 63, then up slightly Tuesday, 58 to 65. Lows today should be 29 to 39.

In the mountains, highs should be 30 to 37 today, 38 to 45 Tuesday. Lows today were forecast to drop to 18 to 28.

Desert highs of 55 to 60 were forecast for today, 58 to 65 Tuesday. Tonight, lows should drop to 25 to 35, the service said.