After Lull, New and Colder Santa Anas Coming to Town

The San Diego area will experience a brief lull in Santa Ana winds today, only to have a stronger, colder set of Santa Anas arrive Sunday night and Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

“The Santa Anas are falling apart, becoming very, very weak, and a sea breeze is starting to come in, temporarily, through Saturday,” forecaster Wilbur Shigehara said.

“Because of the lull in the Santa Anas, humidity will be up a little, but still low. As Sunday and Monday Santa Anas come, humidity will once again plunge.”

The Santa Anas will be particularly chilly because of an influx of cold air from Canada, cold enough for the Weather Service to issue a frost advisory for Sunday night in the agricultural valleys. The cooling trend will last until Tuesday.

Temperatures for the inland valleys will reach lows of 27 degrees and highs of 65 to 70 degrees Sunday.

Mountain areas will be cool this weekend, with highs hitting 52 to 57 degrees Friday and lows of 23 to 33 degrees all weekend.

Desert regions can expect highs of 70 degrees Friday, falling a bit Saturday and Sunday, and temperatures as low as 30 degrees at night. Winds in the desert will reach 30 m.p.h. before the cold Santa Ana winds kick in Sunday night.

Beach temperatures will reach 66 over the weekend, with inland coastal regions slightly higher.

High tides for the weekend will be under 7 feet, Shigehara said, but should cause no problems.

“Winter is around the corner,” said Shigehara. Winter officially begins at 1:22 p.m. next Thursday.

It may, however, arrive a bit earlier.

“Monday should be a harbinger of winter, with temperatures in the mid-60s along the coast and upper 60s inland, and chilly winds,” Shigehara said.

It appears that this winter will be nothing unusual, he added, with temperatures and rainfall forecast to be about the same as last year.