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Temperatures Stay High, But Weekend Brings Humidity Relief

San Diego County can expect some humidity relief over the weekend, but that’s about it. “We should have above-normal temperatures for the foreseeable future,” National Weather Service meteorologist Adam Roser said. “The weekend will be slightly cooler, but there’s not much change in the pattern.” Thursday should be last day of high humidity levels and the threat of thunderstorms in the mountains and desert this week. Monsoonal moisture, which contributed to storms that dropped 0.81 of an inch of rain on Mount Laguna and 0.41 in Ranchita on Wednesday, should be in short supply until next week.

San Diego’s Scripps Pier Records Highest Ocean Temperature In Its 102 Year History

The sea surface temperature at the Scripps Pier in La Jolla hit 78.6 degrees on Wednesday, the highest reading in the pier’s 102-year history, according to UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The reading broke the previous record of 78.4 degrees, which was set in 1931. Scripps Oceanography officials say that sea surface temperatures had been running above normal for several days, but the record was not broken until Wednesday. The institute has been taking sea surface temperatures at that spot since August 1916 as part of its scientific research.

San Diego Council Committee To Consider Utilities Department Code Amendments

The San Diego City Council’s Environment Committee Thursday will consider code amendments intended to improve Public Utilities Department operations following public unrest over inaccurate water billing from late 2017 into this year. Recent audits found that meter-reading employee errors, lack of oversight and insufficient quality control led to billing complaints, in addition to scheduled rate increases, higher water use after drought restrictions were lifted as well as a longer billing cycle between September and December.

USS Midway: A History Of Sustainable Water Management

The USS Midway Museum, docked in San Diego, is the most popular naval warship museum in the United States and among the most visited museums in the country, with 1.4 million people annually coming aboard. Those visitors discover the Midway made its own fresh water while at sea, from the first day it was commissioned in 1945 until it was taken out of active service in 1992. But when this venerable aircraft carrier found new life as the USS Midway Museum in 2004, its relationship with water entered a new era as well.

San Diego County Wasn’t Immune To Extreme Weather In July

San Diego County didn’t escape the extreme weather happening around the planet in July that produced massive fires above the Arctic Circle, a deadly heat wave in Japan, and a 124 degree day in Algeria believed to the highest temperature ever recorded in Africa. The county had it’s own set of remarkable temperatures that stressed both plants and people. The city of San Diego had its hottest July in a dozen years and its fifth hottest since 1874. The month was 5 degrees warmer than normal, and the 96 degrees recorded on July 6 was the third highest reading ever seen in July.

The Common Thread In California’s Wildfires: Heat Like The State Has Never Seen

The northern Sacramento Valley was well on its way to recording the hottest July on record when the Carr fire swept into town Thursday. It was 113 degrees, and months of above-average temperatures had left the land bone-dry and ready to explode. Within a few hours, hundreds of structures were lost and six people killed.

Satellite Image Captures The Unusual Warmth Of San Diego’s Coastal Waters

Sea surface temperatures in Southern California — especially spots in San Diego like Solana Beach — have been unusually warm for weeks. The National Weather Service issued a computer graphic late Monday that shows where the hottest temperatures are being recorded (the areas in red.) “Water temperatures from lifeguards are 72 to 78F and this is shown in satellite imagery depicting much above normal readings (anomaly) in the California Bight,” the weather service said on Facebook.

City Launches App To Help Customers Monitor Water Bills

Painful, inaccurate water bills have eroded trust in the City of San Diego’s Public Utilities Department. However, the city says it is committed to earning that trust back, vowing to fix major problems. They’ve launched a tool customers can use immediately to take control of their water usage and bills.

High Water Bills: San Diego City Council Committee Reviews Performance Audit

The recent audit on the city’s sky-high water bills was under review Monday. The San Diego City Council’s audit committee held a special meeting to look into it after more than 2,700 incorrect water bills were sent out last year. In that special meeting Monday morning, the committee reviewed performance audits on the Public Utilities Department’s water billing operations. This all comes months after hundreds of San Diego residents were over charged for water usage.

San Diego Water Rates Increase 2 Percent This Week, Part Of Larger Multi-Year Spike

Water rates in San Diego will increase just over 2 percent on Wednesday, part of a five-step incremental spike over four years that will amount to a compounded rate hike of 35 percent. The rate increase comes one week after an audit found 2,750 individual water bills last year were incorrect and had to be readjusted because of errors by meter readers.