Summer Still Plays Hide-and-Seek

A nice weekend for outdoor activities is waiting in the wings, but summery weather is still not a sure thing, forecasters say.

“At this rate, the way the weather has been going, maybe we won’t have a summer this year,” said Wilbur Shigehara, forecaster for the National Weather Service in San Diego.

A high pressure building over the southwestern United States will keep skies sunny during the day, but it’s not quite strong enough to keep the low clouds and fog at bay during the night and early morning, Shigehara said. The low clouds may put a damper on viewing the meteor shower expected to peak early Monday morning.

With less sunshine than normal, temperatures will not quite reach the norm for this time of year, he said. “Temperatures downtown should be 77 degrees this time of year, but Thursday we struggled to hit 72.

“We’re getting warmer but summer is still not here, even though it’s nearly the middle of August, the warmest time of the year,” he said.

Low clouds will cling to the beaches this weekend, keeping the coast under partly cloudy skies during the day and cloudy and foggy at night. Temperatures will be 67 to 72, with the water at 67 degrees, he said.

The hurricane season, which begins in earnest toward the end of August, kicked off with Hurricane Fefa on July 29. Brewed off the coast of Mexico near Acapulco, the hurricane disintegrated into a tropical storm over Hawaii, dumping 4 inches of rain on Hilo in six hours Thursday, he said. The storm will not affect San Diego’s surf, which is rolling in at 1 to 2 feet.

Except for the ever-present night and morning clouds, the coastal strip and inland areas will receive lots of sunshine this weekend, Shigehara said.

Temperatures in the coastal strip, which includes the city of San Diego, is expected to be 70 to 80 during the day, falling to 60 to 66 at night.

Highs in the inland areas will be 80 to 90, well short of the 93-degree norm for this time of year, Shigehara said. Nighttime lows will dip to 58 to 63.

Fair skies are forecast for the mountains with partly cloudy skies and a slim chance of a thunderstorm by Sunday, he said.

During the summer, high-pressure systems draw moisture from Mexico, but the high pressure now over the Southwest is not very strong, so the pull of moisture is weaker, he said.

The moisture is enough to keep it humid in the mountains and muggy in the deserts, he said. Temperatures in the mountains are expected to be 82 to 90, falling to 52 to 62 at night.

In the deserts, the mercury will climb to 108 to 115 today and Saturday, falling to 108 to 112 Sunday. Nighttime lows, from 70 to 80, will be higher than the daytime temperatures along the coast.