San Diego’s gray skies on Christmas Eve may give way to some light showers as the afternoon unfolds, according to NBC 7’s First Alert Forecast.
NBC 7 meteorologist Sheena Parveen said Thursday that weather radar was picking up a chance of light showers offshore.
“Expect cloudy skies today with a slight chance for a shower later this afternoon and evening from a separate weather system offshore,” Parveen explained. “Not all computer models are agreeing on this rain chance, but it is certainly possible.”
The National Weather Service San Diego tracked some precipitation around the county just after 10 a.m. on Christmas Eve.
“Unfortunately, most of it will not reach the ground as we have a very dry layer from the surface up to about 9,000 feet above,” the NWS posted on Twitter. “Therefore, we will see a lot of virga today, which is precipitation that evaporates aloft, like in this picture.”
The chance of light rain follows San Diego County’s mountains and inland valleys coming off a red flag warning, which expired at 12 p.m. Thursday. The red flag conditions – which included low humidity and gusty winds – created dangerous fire conditions.
Amid those conditions, the Creek Fire sparked in Fallbrook, exploding to 3,050 acres by the mid-morning.
Meanwhile, Parveen said Christmas Day in San Diego will be dry with an onshore wind and mild temperatures. A big storm is impacting Northern California and the Pacific Northwest, but that shouldn’t impact San Diego’s holiday weather.
The gray skies will linger through the weekend, though.
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Parveen said by Sunday, another storm will approach the West Coast and bring clouds and cooler temperatures with it.
That means that by Monday, San Diego will be chilly and there will be a better shot at showers – and likely snow in San Diego’s mountains – Parveen said.
