Hottest August?
Current heat wave worst in recent memory
By WHITNEY SOUTHWICK
Updated 12:00 PM PST, Fri, Aug 28, 2009
It's a question a lot of you might be asking today, "Is this the hottest August in San Diego history?" Unfortunately, the answer may not be available right away. In checking the archives for the city of San Diego, there doesn't appear to be a category for "heat waves". What it will take is for someone to sit down and check the weather history books day by day, for the last 100 years or so.
Suffice to say then, this is certainly the hottest stretch of August weather in recent memory. In fact, this was turning out to be a pretty mild month until a couple of days ago, when the recent bout of extreme heat settled in. For more than 2 weeks we were enjoying a strong on-shore flow which kept the cool sea breezes going and kept our temperatures below normal. That sure ain't the case now.
There is no on-shore flow, no marine layer and this is giving the intense upper level high a chance to really do its thing. Today will be hotter than yesterday, a day that saw 14 east county communities hit 100 degrees or more. Up in the San Pasqual Valley, home to the Wild Animal Park, the mercury soared to 110; today it could hit 115 or higher. That's only one degree shy of what it's supposed to be today in Borrego Springs in the middle of the desert.
The computers say we should cool off about 5 degrees by tomorrow and another 5 degrees on Sunday. That means most of the east county will make it back into the 90s over the next two days but not all of them. For a few spots, such as the afore mentioned home to the lions and tigers, Ramona and Alpine, it could mean a 5 or 6 day stretch of triple digit days. So, maybe it won't turn out to be the "hottest August" in San Diego but it's a pretty good bet that for a few spots out there in the valleys and foothills, it could come close.
First Published: Aug 28, 2009 5:59 AM PST
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