587  
FXUS66 KSGX 190601  
AFDSGX  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA  
1101 PM PDT SUN OCT 18 2026  
   
SYNOPSIS
 
 
THE COASTAL BASIN WILL CONTINUE TO COOL A FEW DEGREES EARLY THIS  
WEEK WHILE MOUNTAIN AND DESERT REGIONS WARM SLIGHTLY. PATCHY  
COASTAL FOG IS POSSIBLE MONDAY MORNING AND MORE LIKELY EARLY  
TUESDAY. FURTHER COOLING EXPECTED ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION  
STARTING TUESDAY AS A LOW- PRESSURE SYSTEM BEGINS TO MOVE IN FROM  
THE NORTHWEST. THIS WILL BRING WIDESPREAD LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN  
TO THE REGION WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY ALONG WITH ELEVATED  
SOUTHWEST WINDS FOR THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS AS WELL AS  
THUNDERSTORMS FOR THURSDAY.  
 

 
   
DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE
 
 
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO  
COUNTIES...  
   
..UPDATED AVIATION DISCUSSION
 
 
   
SHORT TERM...TODAY OCT 18 THROUGH TUE OCT 20
 
PRETTY BIG CHANGE  
IN TEMPERATURES BETWEEN TODAY AND YESTERDAY; 24 HOURS AGO  
TEMPERATURES WERE 5 TO 12 DEGREES WARMER IN THE COASTAL AND  
VALLEY AREAS AND 3 TO 9 DEGREES COOLER FOR THE MOUNTAINS AND  
DESERTS. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS MORNING'S AND YESTERDAY'S LOW  
TEMPERATURES IS EVEN MORE SIGNIFICANT, WITH LOW TEMPERATURES  
ACROSS THE BOARD 5 TO UP TO 30 DEGREES COOLER THIS MORNING  
COMPARED TO YESTERDAY. WHILE OFFSHORE WINDS WERE PRESENT THIS  
MORNING, THEY WERE LIGHT ENOUGH THAT THEY HAD LITTLE WARMING  
EFFECT, WHILE KEEPING IT DRY AND CLEAR ENOUGH FOR EFFICIENT  
RADIATIONAL COOLING.  
 
CLEAR SKIES WILL CONTINUE TODAY THROUGH MOST OF TONIGHT, THOUGH  
THERE'S A CHANCE FOR AT LEAST PATCHY DENSE FOG TO DEVELOP EARLY  
MORNING ON MONDAY. THE COOLING TREND PRESENT TODAY IN THE COASTS  
AND VALLEYS WILL CONTINUE FOR MONDAY'S HIGH TEMPERATURES WITH  
ANOTHER FEW DEGREES COOLING, WHILE THE DESERTS AND MOUNTAINS WARM  
A COUPLE ADDITIONAL DEGREES.  
 
THERE IS HIGHER CERTAINTY IN THE RETURN OF THE MARINE LAYER MONDAY  
NIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING, WHICH WILL LIKELY START OUT QUITE  
INITIALLY LOW, IF NOT LEADING TO COASTAL DENSE FOG, BEFORE LIKELY  
RISING GRADUALLY THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING. THE COOLING TREND THAT  
STARTED IN THE COASTAL BASIN WILL CONTINUE FOR TUESDAY, AS WELL AS  
SPREAD INTO THE DESERTS AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM FROM THE  
NORTHWEST MOVES TOWARDS THE AREA. A SMALL HANDFUL OF MODELS ARE  
INDICATING THAT LIGHT SHOWERS COULD START LATE TUESDAY, GENERALLY  
JUST FOR THE INLAND MOUNTAINS WITH INCREASED ONSHORE FLOW AND  
MOISTURE PERHAPS LEADING TO WEAK OROGRAPHIC LIFT, BUT THE  
MAJORITY KEEP TUESDAY DRY. WINDS WILL BE AVERAGE FOR MOST AREAS  
BUT START TO PICK UP OVER THE UPPER RIDGES INTO THE HIGH DESERT  
LATE IN THE AFTERNOON TUESDAY.  
 

 
   
LONG TERM...WED OCT 21 THROUGH SUNDAY OCT 25
 
A BROAD CLOSED LOW  
CONTINUES DOWN THE WEST COAST TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY BEFORE  
STALLING JUST NORTHWEST OF PT CONCEPTION WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, THEN  
FINALLY SWEEPING SOUTH TOWARDS THE REGION LATE WEDNESDAY. ONSHORE  
WINDS WILL PICK UP WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON FOR THE USUAL MOUNTAINS,  
DESERT SLOPES/DESERTS, AND MARINE WATERS. THESE WINDS DON'T LOOK  
TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY STRONG, WITH GUSTS LIKELY IN THE 25 TO 35 MPH  
RANGE FOR THE MOST PART (TO AROUND 20 MPH OVER THE COASTAL  
WATERS).  
 
RAIN CHANCES INCREASE THROUGH THE DAY WEDNESDAY; THE CURRENT  
FORECAST HAS WIDESPREAD LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN MOVING THROUGH THE  
AREA LATE WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING. SOUTH-SOUTHWEST FLOW  
AS THE RAIN BAND MOVES IN WILL FAVOR THE SAN BERNARDINO  
MOUNTAINS, WHERE WE'RE EXPECTING THE MOST OVERALL RAINFALL. THE  
FRONT LOOKS LIKELY TO WEAKEN SLIGHTLY AS IT PASSES THROUGH, WITH  
LIGHTER RAIN FOR SOUTH AND EAST SAN DIEGO COUNTY COMPARED TO NORTH  
COUNTY, ORANGE COUNTY, AND SOUTHWEST SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY. RAIN  
RATES WILL LIKELY BE STEADILY LIGHT TO LOCALLY MODERATE THROUGH  
THIS PERIOD.  
 
WIDESPREAD RAIN GIVES WAY TO SCATTERED SHOWERS THURSDAY AS THE LOW  
DIGS SOUTH, FINALLY SWEEPING RIGHT OVER THE AREA THURSDAY MORNING  
INTO THE AFTERNOON ALONG WITH THE ASSOCIATED VORT MAX. THIS WILL  
BRING 1000-700 MB INSTABILITY OF 350-500 J/KG TO THE AREA IN TURN  
LEADING TO WIDESPREAD 15 TO 25% CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE  
MOUNTAINS AND AREAS WESTWARDS. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BRING THE THREAT  
FOR LOCALLY HEAVIER RAINFALL AS WELL AS THE USUAL DANGEROUS  
LIGHTING, GUSTY WINDS, ETC. SO THIS MAY BE THE MOST POTENTIALLY  
IMPACTFUL PERIOD DURING THIS EVENT. SNOW LEVELS WILL DROP  
THURSDAY-FRIDAY, BUT ONLY TO ABOUT 8000 FEET, SO IT'S UNLIKELY  
THAT ANY AREA BUT THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN PEAKS RECEIVE SNOW.  
 
SHOWERS GRADUALLY END SOMETIME BETWEEN LATE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY  
MORNING. ALL IN ALL, TOTAL RAINFALL FOR THE REGION LOOKS TO BE IN  
THE RANGE OF 0.7" TO ABOUT AN INCH FOR NORTH COUNTY SAN DIEGO,  
ORANGE COUNTY, AND THE NORTHWEST INLAND EMPIRE, WITH 1" TO 1.3"  
LIKELY FOR THE SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS. SOUTH AND EAST COUNTY SAN  
DIEGO (INCLUDING THE MOUNTAINS) AS WELL AS THE SOUTHEAST INLAND  
EMPIRE AND RIVERSIDE MOUNTAINS LIKELY TO GET 0.4" TO 0.7", WITH  
0.2" TO 0.5" IN THE HIGH DESERT AND LIKELY UNDER 0.1" FOR THE LOW  
DESERTS. WE'VE GOTTEN AN EXCELLENT HEAD START ON THE WATER YEAR  
(WHICH STARTED OCT 1ST), AND THIS EVENT WILL KEEP THE TREND GOING.  
 
MODELS DIVERGE ON THE LOCATION OF THE LOW GOING INTO NEXT WEEKEND,  
WITH SOME SHOWING THE LOW STALLING NEAR AZ OVER THE WEEKEND AND  
OTHERS A SMOOTH EXIT EASTWARDS. IN EITHER CASE, TEMPERATURES WILL  
START TO REBOUND FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY, AND WINDS WILL LIKELY TURN  
OFFSHORE FOR SATURDAY-SUNDAY. THE STRENGTH OF THESE WINDS VARIES  
QUITE A BIT BETWEEN ENSEMBLE MODEL MEMBERS, WITH MOST OF THEM AT  
THIS POINT LOOKING PRETTY WEAK, BUT CONFIDENCE WILL INCREASE AS  
THE WEEK PROGRESSES. LOOKING OUT TOWARDS THE END OF THE MONTH,  
SOME FORM OF TROUGHING IS LIKELY ON THE FAR HORIZON. THE CURRENT  
CLIMATE PREDICATION CENTER'S OUTLOOK FOR OCTOBER 26 THROUGH  
NOVEMBER 1 IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IS FOR NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES  
AND LEANING ABOVE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION (50-60% CHANCE).  
 

 
   
AVIATION
 
 
190600Z...COAST...THERE IS A 10-20 PERCENT CHANCE OF LOW CLOUDS AND  
FOG 10-16Z. IF CLOUDS DO MANAGE TO FORM OVER LAND, CIGS AND VIS WILL  
BE VERY LOW, 200-500 FEET MSL AND 0-3SM RESPECTIVELY. LOW CLOUDS AND  
FOG MUCH MORE LIKELY TO FORM AFTER 04Z TUESDAY.  
 
OTHERWISE...MOSTLY CLEAR AND VFR CONDITIONS EXCEPT FOR SCT-BKN  
CUMULUS BASED AROUND 10 KFT OVER MOUNTAINS 19-00Z.  
 

 
   
MARINE
 
 
NO HAZARDOUS MARINE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH TUESDAY. A STORM  
SYSTEM MOVES INTO THE REGION WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, BRINGING  
POSSIBLE LOCAL GUSTS AROUND 20 KNOTS AND A CHANCE (10-15%) FOR  
THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY.  
 

 
   
BEACHES
 
 
ELEVATED SURF WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MID-WEEK WITH MULTIPLE SOUTH  
SWELLS MOVING IN. EXPECT SURF OF 3 TO 6 FEET AND LOCAL SETS TO 7  
FEET ALONG SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST-FACING BEACHES THROUGH AT LEAST  
TUESDAY.  
 
WHILE SURF AND RIP CURRENTS WILL BE ELEVATED, DAILY HIGH TIDES WILL  
NOT BE PARTICULARLY HIGH, AND THE THREAT OF COASTAL FLOODING IS  
MINIMAL. FURTHER DETAILS CAN BE FOUND IN THE BEACH HAZARD STATEMENT.  
 

 
   
SKYWARN
 
 
SKYWARN ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED. HOWEVER WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE  
ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS.  
 

 
   
SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
 
 
CA...BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING FOR ORANGE  
COUNTY COASTAL AREAS-SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS.  
 
PZ...NONE.  
 

 
 

 
 
PUBLIC...CSP  
AVIATION/MARINE/BEACHES...MM  
 
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