New Year to Begin With Clear and Cold Weather

Mostly clear skies and cool temperatures will ring in the New Year and prevail through Sunday, according to National Weather Service forecasters.

Occasional high clouds will mix with the sunshine through New Year’s Day, but a “real nice period is coming up,” forecaster Wilbur Shigehara said. “Temperatures will be on the chilly side, but there is no rain in the forecast.”

A frost advisory went into effect Wednesday. It covers inland agricultural areas, including Bonsall, San Pasqual, Pauma Valley and Valley Center, where overnight temperatures will dip to the 25-degree range. The advisory should be lifted by Saturday morning, Shigehara added.

The high cloud cover will provide a measure of warmth, but when the clouds clear out, nights will be colder in the agricultural areas, Shigehara said. “Even on the coastal section and downtown San Diego it will be between 36 and 44 degrees at night,” Shigehara said.

The high temperatures around the county for today and New Year’s Day will hover near 60 degrees, said Mike Smith of WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times.

“It looks for once like it’s going to be fairly uniform,” said Smith. “For New Year’s Day it looks like we’re going to see 60 degrees both on the coastal strip and inland.”

High temperatures on the coast and inland will be slightly cooler Saturday dropping between the mid to upper 50s, but by Sunday they will be back up to the low 60s, said Smith. Low temperatures on the coast will be in the 40-degree-range, and in the 30s for the inland areas.

Mountain highs will be near freezing through the weekend, ranging between 35 and 45 degrees. The night time lows for the weekend will be in the 20s, Smith said.

Desert areas will experience similar cold temperatures at night ranging between 27 and 32 degrees, Shigehara said.

While the cold New Year weather may invigorate some San Diegans into wanting to get things done, it should be noted that many businesses and offices will close early today, and will be closed Friday, New Year’s Day.

All federal, state, county and city offices will be closed Friday, as will schools, courts, banks, most businesses and the stock exchanges.

All county post offices will be closed Friday, although mail will be collected from boxes according to the posted schedules. While no mail will be delivered New Year’s Day, scheduled delivery will resume Saturday. Similarly, Friday trash pickups will be postponed one day to Saturday.