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Forecast Discussion for San Diego, CA
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000 FXUS66 KSGX 282138 AFDSGX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service San Diego CA 138 PM PST Tue Nov 28 2023 .SYNOPSIS... A series of mostly weak low pressure systems will bring cooling for Wednesday through Friday, chances for showers, and gusty west winds for the mountains and deserts. Then dry with warming for the weekend into the middle of next week. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES... The high clouds from this morning have cleared out to the east this afternoon, leaving us with mostly clear skies. Temperatures this afternoon are overall running right around where they were yesterday. Offshore winds have gradually started turning onshore inland this afternoon. With the return of onshore flow brings the return of the marine layer. The marine layer cloud forecast tonight is a bit tricky, as it usually is when we transition from offshore to onshore flow. Low clouds should develop along the coast overnight, but it will likely be pretty late in the overnight hours, and coverage will be patchy at best until later on Wednesday morning. A low pressure system currently situated just off the coast of northern California will begin to progress southeast along the coast on Wednesday. This will strengthen onshore flow and spread cooling inland. Highs on Wednesday are expected to be 5 to 10 degrees cooler than Tuesday for all areas, with continued cooling into Thursday. In addition to the cooler temperatures, winds will increase across the mountains and deserts and through the passes Wednesday afternoon and evening, with peak gusts 45 to 50 mph. This system looks to be pretty moisture starved, with rather unimpressive PWAT values in the ensemble solutions. Almost all the ensembles are wet though, so expect some precipitation later on Wednesday into Thursday, but it won`t be much. The storm is on track to bring the highest precipitation totals to southern San Diego County, with very little for areas north of San Diego County Wednesday evening into Thursday. This wave will race east on Thursday, with another system on it`s heels for later Thursday into Friday. Guidance has further trended this storm more to our north, so our rainfall forecast has trended even lower from the previous forecast. The highest rainfall amounts look to occur on the coastal mountain slopes of the San Diego County mountains, with very little accumulation expected north of San Diego County. Forecast rainfall totals Wednesday through Friday: Orange County and Inland Empire: 0.00 to 0.10 inch San Diego coast and valleys: 0.15 to 0.30 inch San Bernardino mountains: 0.00 to 0.10 inch Riverside mountains: 0.00 to 0.10 inch San Diego mountains: 0.15 to 0.45 inch Deserts: 0.00 to 0.05 inch Snow levels will be above 6000 feet Wednesday and Thursday, then drop to around 5500 feet on Friday. Some snow accumulation will be possible on Friday in the mountains, but it`s not looking like much, perhaps up to an inch above 6000 feet. So overall after today, expect cooler conditions, more cloud cover, stronger onshore winds, and periods of showers. The precipitation won`t amount to much, but we will take anything we can get during the typical peak of our fire season. Ensembles are pretty set on a ridge of high pressure building in after the low departs to the east this weekend. This will bring us dry and warmer conditions through at least the first half of next week. && .AVIATION... 282100Z...Coast/Valleys...FEW-SCT high clouds AOA 20000 feet this afternoon. Patchy low cloud coverage with bases near 1500-3000 feet MSL starting 12-15Z Wed. Local vis reduced 3-5SM along inland extent of clouds in valleys. Low confidence in onset time of low cloud coverage. -SHRA possible after 21Z Wed, most likely in San Diego county. Vis down to 2SM and cigs locally near 1000 ft MSL in SHRA. Mountains/Deserts...Westerly winds with gusts 35 to 45 kt over the mountains, through passes, and into the deserts after 18Z Wed-06Z Thu. && .MARINE... Northwest wind gusts near 20 kt over the outer waters Thursday night through Friday night. During that same time, an incoming northwest swell of 6-7 ft and 8 seconds from 280 degrees is expected. Choppy seas and hazardous boating conditions are likely in the outer coastal waters. && .SKYWARN... Skywarn activation is not requested. However weather spotters are encouraged to report significant weather conditions. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CA...None. PZ...None. && $$ PUBLIC...Connolly AVIATION/MARINE...CO |
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