457  
FXUS66 KSGX 251221  
AFDSGX  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA  
421 AM PST THU DEC 25 2025  
   
SYNOPSIS  
 
STRONG SOUTH WINDS WITH GUSTS TO 55 TO 65 MPH WILL CONTINUE ALONG  
AND BELOW THE DESERT SLOPES OF THE SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS  
WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MID AFTERNOON BEFORE DIMINISHING. SCATTERED  
SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE AT TIMES THROUGH THIS EVENING, MAINLY  
ACROSS PORTIONS OF ORANGE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO  
COUNTIES. MORE WIDESPREAD SHOWERS WILL SPREAD EASTWARD AND SOUTHWARD  
AND ACROSS THE AREA FOR LATE TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON  
WITH PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS GREATER TO THE NORTH AND LESS TO THE  
SOUTH. SHOWERS WILL DECREASE FOR FRIDAY NIGHT AND EARLY SATURDAY  
FOLLOWED BY DRIER WEATHER THROUGH SUNDAY AND MONDAY. SHOWERS COULD  
RETURN FROM THE SOUTH SOME TIME THE LATTER HALF OF NEXT WEEK  
CENTERED AROUND NEW YEAR'S DAY.  
 
 
   
DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE  
 
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO  
COUNTIES...  
   
SHORT TERM (TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY)  
 
WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS HAVE CONTINUED OVERNIGHT, MAINLY FOR THE  
ORANGE COUNTY COAST NORTHWARD TO THE SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY  
MOUNTAINS. THE MORE INTENSE CELLS HAVE PRODUCED ISOLATED RAINFALL  
OF ONE-THIRD TO ONE-HALF INCH. SOME OF THESE CELLS HAVE HAD WEAK  
ROTATION AND THERE WERE SOME LIGHTNING STRIKES IN THE WESTERN SAN  
BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS BEFORE MIDNIGHT. THIS GENERAL PATTERN IS  
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THIS EVENING.  
 
MORE WIDESPREAD SHOWERS FROM THE WEST ARE EXPECTED TO SPREAD INTO  
THE AREA BEFORE DAWN ON FRIDAY AND SPREAD EASTWARD AND SOUTHWARD  
ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT  
CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FOR FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING.  
SHOWERS WILL DECREASE FOR FRIDAY NIGHT AND EARLY SATURDAY.  
 
FOR FRIDAY FOR PRECIPITATION, EACH ENSEMBLE SYSTEM FORMS ITS OWN  
CLUSTER WITH VERY LITTLE OVERLAP WITH THE ENSEMBLE MEMBERS OF THE  
OTHER MODELS. THE ENSEMBLE SYSTEMS OF THE ECMWF AND CANADIAN MODEL  
ARE RELATIVELY WETTER WITH THE GFS ENSEMBLE SYSTEM RELATIVELY  
DRIER. ALL HAVE THE MORE NORTH, LESS SOUTH DISTRIBUTION OF  
AMOUNTS.  
 
 
   
LONG TERM  
 
DRYING WITH WEAK OFFSHORE FLOW IS EXPECTED FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY  
WITH WEAK OFFSHORE. HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL WARM 5 TO 10 DEGREES  
THROUGH MONDAY, BUT REMAIN BELOW AVERAGE. A CUT-OFF LOW PRESSURE  
SYSTEM WILL DEVELOP WELL TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE AREA EARLY NEXT  
WEEK, THEN MAY BEGIN TO MOVE TOWARD THE NORTHEAST TOWARD THE  
MIDDLE AND LATTER PART OF NEXT WEEK DRAWING SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE  
TOWARDS THE NORTH AND NORTHWEST AHEAD OF IT. THIS COULD BRING A  
RETURN OF SHOWERS AND HIGHER SNOW LEVELS SOME TIME CENTERED AROUND  
NEW YEAR'S DAY. MODEL PRECIPITATION CLUSTERS SHOW THE STRONGEST  
ENSEMBLE SUPPORT IS FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TO REMAIN DRY FOR NEXT  
WEDNESDAY WITH PRECIPITATION REMAINING TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE  
AREA.  
 
 
   
AVIATION  
 
251200Z....COASTS/VALLEYS...RAIN HAS MOSTLY ENDED BUT PATCHY LOW  
CLOUDS REMAIN WITH BASES VARYING QUITE A BIT, RANGING FROM 1000FT TO  
4000FT MSL. GUSTS UP TO 25-30 KTS AT TIMES POSSIBLE THROUGH 15Z.  
LOCALIZED MVFR/LOW END VFR CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THIS  
MORNING, BUT LOW CLOUDS ARE ALREADY BEGINNING TO SCATTER OUT. MOST  
LOCATIONS RETURN TO VFR BY 16-18Z. STILL, LINGERING FEW-BKN CLOUDS  
WITH BASES AT OR ABOVE 5000FT MSL EXPECTED, ESPECIALLY FOR ORANGE  
COUNTY INTO THE AFTERNOON. LOW LEVEL CLOUDS DEVELOP AGAIN THIS  
EVENING GENERALLY AFTER 02Z FRI, WITH BASES ANYWHERE FROM 1500-  
3500FT MSL.  
 
MOUNTAINS/DESERTS...BRIEF -SHRA MAY CONTINUE THROUGH 16Z WITH  
MVFR CIGS. OTHERWISE, BASES GENERALLY ABOVE 3500FT MSL. 35-50 KT  
GUSTS DOWNWIND OF MTNS AND INTO THE HIGH DESERT THROUGH THIS  
AFTERNOON WITH GUSTS LOCALLY TO 55 KTS THROUGH PASSES. MOD-STRONG  
UP/DOWNDRAFTS NEAR MTNS AND INTO THE HIGH DESERT. SCATTERING OUT  
OF LOW CLOUDS THIS MORNING WITH GENERALLY VFR THEREAFTER.  
ADDITIONAL RAIN CHANCES FOR THE MTNS AND DESERTS EARLY FRIDAY  
MORNING.  
 
 
   
MARINE  
 
WINDS HAVE WEAKENED AND THE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY HAS ENDED.  
 
SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS STRENGTHEN SLIGHTLY AGAIN LATE THURSDAY  
INTO FRIDAY, WITH GUSTS INTERMITTENTLY EXCEEDING 20 KTS. WINDS THEN  
TURN NORTHWEST AND GRADUALLY DECREASE LATE FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY.  
 
 
   
BEACHES  
 
STRONG SOUTH WINDS HAVE LEAD TO ELEVATED SURF 5 TO 8  
FEET WITH SETS TO 9 FEET, HIGHEST FOR SOUTH-FACING BEACHES,  
PRODUCING HAZARDOUS SWIMMING CONDITIONS. WINDS DIMINISH ALONG WITH  
SURF THIS MORNING, BUT MORE BREEZY WINDS ALONG WITH ANOTHER LARGE  
SWELL WILL LEAD TO SURF BUILDING AGAIN FRIDAY-SATURDAY, ESPECIALLY  
FOR WEST-FACING BEACHES. A SURF ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT NOW THROUGH  
SATURDAY AFTERNOON.  
 
 
   
HYDROLOGY  
 
SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE TODAY WITH THE GREATEST COVERAGE  
AND AMOUNTS IN THE SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS. SHOWERS WILL  
DECREASE OVER THE SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS DURING THIS  
MORNING, THEN BEGIN TO INCREASE FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.  
MORE WIDESPREAD SHOWERS WILL SPREAD SOUTHWARD ACROSS THE AREA FROM  
BEFORE DAWN ON FRIDAY THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON WITH SHOWERS  
DECREASING LATE FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING.  
 
THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR ORANGE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO  
COUNTIES, ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WITH LIQUID-EQUIVALENT ABOVE THE  
SNOW LEVEL WILL RANGE FROM LESS THAN ONE-TENTH INCH NEAR THE COAST  
TO 0.10 TO 0.25 INCH FOR THE SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS WITH 0.25 TO  
0.50 INCH FOR THE EASTERN SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAINS. RAINFALL RATES  
WILL MOSTLY BE ONE-QUARTER INCH OR LESS PER HOUR WITH ISOLATED  
HOURLY RAINFALL TO AROUND ONE-THIRD INCH.  
 
FOR LATE TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT FOR ORANGE AND SOUTHWESTERN  
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES, ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WITH LIQUID-  
EQUIVALENT ABOVE THE SNOW LEVEL WILL RANGE FROM AROUND 1 INCH NEAR  
THE COAST TO 2 TO 3 INCHES IN THE MOUNTAINS, LOCALLY TO AROUND 4  
INCHES FOR THE EASTERN SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAINS. AMAUNTS WILL  
DECREASE FROM NORTH TO SOUTH AND MORE RAPIDLY ACROSS SAN DIEGO  
COUNTY WITH ONE-QUARTER TO ONE-THIRD INCH ACROSS FAR SOUTHERN SAN  
DIEGO COUNTY.  
 
THE SNOW LEVEL WILL FALL TO AROUND 6500 FEET BY DAWN THIS MORNING,  
RISE TO AROUND 7500 FEET BY FRIDAY MORNING, THEN FALL TO AROUND  
5000 FEET BY SATURDAY MORNING. SNOWFALL OF 2 TO 3 INCHES IS  
POSSIBLE DOWN TO AROUND 7000 FEET WITH 8 TO 14 INCHES POSSIBLE  
ABOVE 8000 FEET.  
 
SHOWERS WILL BECOME MORE SCATTERED IN COVERAGE INTO SATURDAY,  
EVENTUALLY DISSIPATING BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON.  
 
 
   
SKYWARN  
 
SKYWARN ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED. HOWEVER WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE  
ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS.  
 
 
   
SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES  
 
CA...HIGH SURF ADVISORY UNTIL 11 AM PST SATURDAY FOR ORANGE COUNTY  
COASTAL AREAS-SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS.  
 
FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 6 AM PST EARLY THIS MORNING FOR APPLE AND  
LUCERNE VALLEYS-COACHELLA VALLEY-ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL  
AREAS-ORANGE COUNTY INLAND AREAS-RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-  
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS-SAN BERNARDINO AND  
RIVERSIDE COUNTY VALLEYS-THE INLAND EMPIRE-SAN GORGONIO  
PASS NEAR BANNING-SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS.  
 
HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 3 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON FOR APPLE AND  
LUCERNE VALLEYS-SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS.  
 
PZ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 4 AM PST EARLY THIS MORNING FOR  
COASTAL WATERS FROM SAN MATEO POINT TO THE MEXICAN BORDER  
AND OUT TO 10 NM-WATERS FROM SAN MATEO POINT TO THE MEXICAN  
BORDER EXTENDING 10 TO 60 NM OUT INCLUDING SAN CLEMENTE  
ISLAND.  
 
 
 
 
 
PUBLIC/HYDROLOGY...17  
AVIATION/MARINE/BEACHES...ZUBER  
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