Today is the hottest day of 2019 in San Diego. Tuesday could match it, and Friday maybe, too.

The mercury shot up to 88 degrees before noon on Monday at San Diego International Airport, site of San Diego’s official weather station. That topped the previous high of 2019, which had been 86 on Sept. 2.

The National Weather Service expects the minor Santa Ana winds that had gusted in the county’s mountains and foothills Sunday and Monday to drop off Tuesday, but the heat and very dry air will stick around. Temperatures should be 10 to 15 degrees warmer than normal, with the inland valleys again reaching the 90s, and San Diego climbing to around 88 degrees again.

After a brief cool-down Wednesday, temperatures should rise again Thursday. By Friday, San Diego is expected to be back in the high 80s, with the valleys back in the 90s. Another Santa Ana could drop relative humidity levels to the single digits in the mountains and as low as 15 percent along the coast.


National Weather Service meteorologist Adam Roser said significant cooling is still a few days off. San Diego isn’t expected to return to normal until Sunday, when the high is projected to be 74. Next Monday, when a slight chance of rain enters the picture, a high of 70 is forecast.

It’s not too unusual for San Diego to have its hottest days of the year in October. Just two years ago, San Diego reached its max for the year on Oct. 25, when the high was 98.