The first in a series of Pacific storms moved into San Diego County on Wednesday and began spreading much-needed rain, before a second wave was expected to follow Thursday night into Friday morning.
It’s been a slow start to the rainy season. The first major storm of the season is bringing much needed rain as San Diego County deals with the driest start to any winter in more than 170 years.
While the storm offers a boost to drought conditions, officials warn the rainfall is not enough to fully replenish local reservoirs.
A new, more powerful storm is heading toward San Diego County this week and has the potential to bring multiple inches of rain and flash floods to communities throughout the region. The storm is projected to begin Wednesday morning and stay through Friday, with the heaviest rainfall occurring over the last two days, Stefanie Sullivan, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, said Monday. The storm that arrived in North County last week, but largely missed South County communities, brought between 0.2 and 0.5 inches of rain.
Southern California has started to feel like, well, Southern California again, with sunny afternoons pushing highs into the 80s this week. But don’t start planning warm-weather weekend activities just yet.
El Niño is here, but California isn’t seeing the impact, at least not yet. Joe Sirard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles, says precipitation for the current water year is generally lagging behind averages.
