Storms, Rain Have Little Chance of Reaching S.D.

Three storms are churning across the Pacific, including one that brought 100-m.p.h. winds to Hawaii, but weather forecasters say only one has a chance of reaching San Diego with rain.

Two will be deflected northward by a strong high pressure that has blocked onshore breezes and kept San Diego under a warm Santa Ana condition this week, forecaster Wilbur Shigehara said.

“We’re watching the third storm,” he said, but it may bring rain only as far south as Los Angeles as it reaches the coast about Tuesday.

Hope for a normal rainfall season is fading fast. This month is normally the third wettest month of the season behind March, but “our February forecast is not too optimistic,” he said.

Normally, “we get 1.43 inches but the 30-day forecast indicates that we won’t get that.”

The forecast follows on the heels of a dismal showing in January which is usually the wettest month of a season that runs from July 1 to June 30, he said. January normally delivers 2.11 inches, but the monthly tally was 1.06.

“It’s hard to say what it all means for the time being, but we’re getting far behind. We’ve gotten 3.2 inches for the season and normally we’d have 5.21 by this time. We’re not giving up hope yet. But, unless we get rain in February and March, the hope for catching up is fading fast.”

To set the stage for possible rain next week, the Santa Ana condition is fading and will be all but gone by Sunday, Shigehara said. As the onshore breezes return, clouds spawned by the Pacific storms will obscure much of the sunshine this weekend. Temperatures will continue to be warm until the Santa Ana dissipates, with nights slowly warming by Sunday.

With the Santa Ana condition, days have been two to three degrees above the norm for this time of year and nights have been cool, Shigehara said. El Centro dipped to a low of 32 Thursday night and Imperial Beach reported 40 degrees, Del Mar had a 36, Escondido 37, La Mesa 43, National City 39, Poway 32 and Vista 41.

At the beach today and through the weekend, the mercury will hold steady between 53 and 62. The surf will roll in at 3 feet, with a water temperature of 57 degrees.

Coastal temperatures are expected to range from 66 to 72, coming down a degree or two on Sunday. Nights should drop to 42 to 52 tonight and warm up a degree over the weekend.

Inland areas will experience weekend temperatures of 72 to 77, Shigehara said. Nights will drop to 35 to 45 tonight and 38 to 48 over the weekend, he said.

Temperatures in the mountains will range from 52 to 58, dropping to 25 to 35 tonight and 27 to 37 over the weekend, Shigehara forecast.

The mercury in the desert will rise to 70 to 76 during the day, he said, with cool nights ranging from 33 to 43 tonight and 35 to 45 over the weekend.