San Diego County’s unseasonably hot, humid weather will linger until Thursday, when cool sea breezes will cause temperatures to moderate, reminding people that the start of autumn is less than three weeks away.
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The county is currently under an extreme heat warning that will expire Wednesday night. But a lower-level heat advisory will remain in effect for an additional day, the National Weather Service says.
The region is in need of relief.
Since June 1, San Diego has experienced only 14 days in which the daytime high temperature was below average. The heat was especially bad on Sunday and Monday, when the temperature hit 95 degrees at San Diego International Airport — 17 degrees above normal.
The prolonged heat and humidity have elevated the risk of wildfires countywide. The public will learn on Thursday whether these conditions are broadly causing the region to slip into drought. That’s when the federal government and the University of Nebraska update the U.S. Drought Monitor website.
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Thursday is also the day that NOAA will announce whether the powerful El Niño that’s been emerging in the equatorial Pacific will become stronger than originally expected. Scientists say the El Niño has made hurricane season stronger than normal in the eastern Pacific. The storms have included Hurricane Marie, which produced oppressive heat in San Diego County over Labor Day weekend.
The county is nearing the end of the rainy season, which begins each year on Oct. 1 and ends on Sept. 30 of the following year. San Diego International Airport has recorded 10.09 inches of precipitation during the current season, which is 0.40 inches below normal. The airport recorded only a trace of rain over the holiday weekend. Scattered showers were reported Tuesday along Interstate 8, east of Descanso
Forecasters use this unusual timeframe to fully capture California’s dry and wet periods without splitting the season in half.
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