Californians don’t have to worry too much about drought for the foreseeable future.
The state’s Department of Water Resources said Tuesday’s snowpack survey revealed the snowfall in the Sierra Nevada mountains is above average at roughly 113%.
The most powerful storm in more than a decade will hit San Diego County late Friday and early Saturday with snow that could cause whiteout conditions in the mountains and shut down Interstate 8, rain that could cause widespread flooding and mudslides, and winds that could make kindling out of trees, the National Weather Service said.
San Diego’s mountains have turned into a winter wonderland thanks to a storm system that dumped a layer of snow on the county’s peaks to start the week. The winter storm swept across San Diego County overnight Sunday and left snowfall on Julian, Mount Laguna and Palomar mountains. By 9 a.m. Monday, at least 4 inches fell at Mount Laguna and more than 4 inches on Birch Hill near Palomar Mountain, and 3 inches were recorded in Julian, the National Weather Service said.
Jason Kraling sank his fingers deep into the spongy soil on Mount Laguna Saturday and pulled out a fistful of dead leaves, brittle pine needles, shards of wood and rich brown soil.
“Look at how moist this is,” said Kraling, a fire battalion chief with the U.S. Forest Service. “We’ve gotten a reprieve from how dry things were last summer. It’s a good time for prescribed burns.”
Heavy rain will fall at times in San Diego County Thursday evening and snow is likely in the mountains, according to the National Weather Service.
As of 1 p.m. Wednesday, 5 inches of snow had fallen on Palomar Mountain. Palomar Mountain is expected to get up to 3 more inches of snow by late Friday morning, while Mount Laguna could get between 6-7 inches and Julian could get trace amounts of snow, meteorologist Miguel Miller said. Snow levels will be around 4,900 feet Thursday morning, then rise to 5,500 feet by this afternoon and remain there through Friday morning.
A flash flood watch is in effect throughout the county until Friday afternoon.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
