Look for weekend warmup and clear skies for New Year’s Eve
Dec 28, 2024
Friday was on the cool side, but San Diego looks to be in store for — no surprise, really — a pleasant weekend as December winds down. And potential Santa Anas may mean clear skies on Tuesday night as the world slips into 2025.
“We are expecting warming conditions over the weekend, especially for the valley locations,” said meteorologist Casey Oswant of the National Weather Service.
Temperatures on Saturday and Sunday are forecast to be in the upper 60s along the coasts and in the low 70s inland, she said. Look for mid-70s in the deserts — not a big change for Borrego Springs, which came in at 75 degrees and sunny on Friday.
As for fog, Oswant said it’s tricky to forecast, but overnight fog is possible Saturday night into Sunday morning. “We are definitely on the lookout for that along the immediate coast,” she said.
Tuesday — New Year’s Eve — “looks like it is going to be a nice day overall,” she said. “There could be some high clouds around, but we are going to see some degree of Santa Ana winds. Should be enough to keep low clouds and fog away Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning,”
For revelers, that means clear skies for viewing fireworks.
Oswant said warmer conditions will continue on Thursday, with highs in some spots expected to hit 80 degrees. It’s not clear just how strong the winds will be. But the combination of offshore winds, warmer weather and dry brush do bring heightened fire danger.
And that brush is very dry. Since the start of October, the region has seen 0.14 inch of rain, making it the third-driest start to the water year (which runs from October to September) on record.
A La Niña is in place, and that generally means drier conditions locally. Usually from October through December, San Diego gets an average of about 3 inches of rain.