Wildfire Weather Conditions Should Ease by Friday Night

Weather conditions that contributed to a series of wildfires around San Diego County this week should ease off by tomorrow night, according to a National Weather Service meteorologist.

"We do anticipate some lower temperatures tomorrow, although it will still be in the 90s in the inland areas," Philip Gonsalves of the NWS told City News Service.

Gonsalves said winds have shifted to coming out of the west, which will progressively bring an end to the Santa Anas that brought excessively hot temperatures and low humidity to the region. He called it the "beginning of a trend."

The inland valleys will still be hot and dry Friday, but temperatures should start edging down, and the humidity increase beginning tomorrow night.

The marine layer that is more typical for San Diego in May could make it to the western side of the valleys by Saturday night, he said.

Gonsalves said inland valley highs will only be in the 70s on Monday.

At 3 p.m. today, the official San Diego reporting station at Lindbergh Field registered a record 94 degrees, according to NWS data. The weather agency said the thermometer reached 106 in El Cajon, 103 in Escondido, and 102 in Poway and Santee.

Inland relative humidities were in the single digits.

The prospect of improving conditions prompted San Diego Gas & Electric to maintain electrical service throughout the backcountry today.

The utility has a policy of shutting off power in rural East County areas when winds could get strong enough to knock down power lines. Four circuits serving more than 1,000 customers were de-energized Wednesday.

Erin Coller of SDG&E said officials decided to keep the power on, but the situation was "fluid."

Read updates on the San Diego County Wildfires here: Thursday San Diego County Firestorm Coverage.

—City News Service