An unusual torrent of rain and flash flooding hit the San Diego area on Monday, shutting down highways, swamping roads and leaving some residents to watch helplessly as water swept away their cars or wreaked havoc on their homes.
Hundreds of people had to be rescued Monday as historic rain hit San Diego, causing significant flooding that closed major roadways, shut down bus lines, cut power and sent scores of residents scrambling for higher ground.
Despite a spate of recent storms, scientists say California needs more winterlike weather to bolster its water supply and avoid another drought.
Lake Shasta, California’s largest reservoir, stands at 113% of the historical average and only 52 feet from being full, thanks to the gift of rain the state is receiving so far this winter.
After a worryingly weak start to the winter for California’s mountains, two storms — including what’s expected to be the biggest of the season so far — are expected to dump several inches of snow on the Sierra Nevada this week, days after some promising weekend snowfall.
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.
The National Weather Service modeling predicts a “historically strong” El Niño this winter, the first in five years. What does that mean for gardens? A warm winter and usually, rain.
With precipitation and snowpack falling behind normal levels for this time of year, the 40 million people served by the Colorado River have last year’s wet winter to thank for the Basin’s relative stability. Right now, the entire American West is struggling with snow drought. Snowpack for the Upper Colorado River Basin — which includes Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — stands at a dismal 57.7% of average as of Jan. 3.
San Diego markets itself as the land of endless warmth and sunshine. That seems like a goof as 2023 comes to an end. The city received only two hours of sunshine in the entire month of May. The temperature was below average for 11 straight months.
A flood watch will be in effect for all of San Diego County from Thursday evening through Friday evening as a slow-moving storm travels through Southern California.
The National Weather Service said rainfall over the next two days is expected to total .75 to 1.5 inches for the coast and valleys, 1 to 2 inches for the mountains, and up to an inch in the deserts.
