Monday is expected to be much drier than the weekend but there is a chance for showers overnight, the National Weather Service said. The next storm system is expected to approach next weekend.
Weather officials had been warning Californians about the wrath of El Niño for months — even as some residents had begun to think the typically soaking climate pattern had gone AWOL.
The pump is primed for another stretch of very stormy weather next week and into early February. What forecasters have yet to fully determine is where the next fire hose of moisture will be aimed: at San Diego again, at points to the north or even at the entire state of California.
Widespread rain returns to San Diego County Thursday for a fifth day in a row as yet another atmospheric river impacts our state. Gov. Gavin Newsom has proclaimed a state of emergency throughout California in response to severe winter storms.
For a second consecutive week, San Diego County will get hit by a pair of back-to-back storms that are part of larger systems that will bring badly needed rain to California’s reservoirs and minimize the risk of wildfires. The polar jet stream has slumped to the south and is guiding storms to the West Coast like a conveyor belt, says the National Weather Service.
It was a mostly dry day Wednesday in San Diego, but another storm is on the way that could dampen New Year’s Eve celebrations. “Precipitation is over for most of San Diego County for the next couple days except for really light rain in spots until Saturday afternoon,” said National Weather Service forecaster Brian Adams, who added the storm Tuesday night dropped a half-inch to an inch of rain over much of the county.
A dry Southern California is soaking up rain from a series of storms that has, so far, brought a half-inch to more than an inch of rain to parts of San Diego County. The first storm reached the northern parts of the county Tuesday evening and swept southeast overnight before making its way south by Wednesday morning. A few lingering clouds could bring the occasional shower through the work-week but it’s not likely to be much, NBC 7 Meteorologist Sheena Parveen said.
Rain is in the forecast this week, and residents with rain barrels are getting ready. “Right before it rains, I make sure that they are empty so that I have space for more water,” said Robin Reed-Anderson, an Encinitas resident. She has four barrels on her property that collect rainwater.
The first of two Pacific storms will push into San Diego County on Tuesday night and likely drop a half-inch or more of rain at and near the coast and slightly more in the foothills and mountains by early Wednesday, says the National Weather Service. The rain represents the tail of a much larger system that is soaking the Bay Area and is expected to bring heavy snow to the Sierra Nevada, benefiting many of the state’s reservoirs.
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.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
