Early April showers are giving way to a warm, sunny weekend, and what looks set to become a warmer, drier rest of the month, forecasters say.
Weak Santa Ana winds will set in Saturday, bringing breezes, drying air and “the start to our significant warming trend,” National Weather Service meteorologist Alex Tardy said in a Friday afternoon briefing.
The heat is expected to peak late next week, on Thursday and Friday, with temperatures of more 10 degrees above normal around the county — as hot as 74 in San Diego, 86 in Escondido and 87 in El Cajon. The mercury will even hit triple digits in San Diego County’s eastern deserts, forecasters say.
The region’s unusually high temperatures will extend well into next weekend, and reflect the edge of a heat wave over much of the country.
That could spell trouble for wildfires.
“An early fire season is quite likely,” Tardy said, pointing to the combination of below-average seasonal rainfall, an unusually warm and dry winter and what’s expected to be a warm and dry April, too.
“Anything that was able to grow from the March rainfall will be susceptible to burning,” he noted.
But this weekend, anyway, the weather should be more pleasant.
The San Diego airport will experience a daytime high of 67 on Saturday and 72 on Sunday, the NWS says.
Escondido should be 74 on Saturday and 79 on Sunday. Oceanside will hit 62 Saturday and 65 Sunday. Imperial Beach will be 64 Saturday and 70 Sunday. And El Cajon will warm up to 76 Saturday and 82 Sunday.
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