The San Diego River is prone to flooding, especially during conditions like Thursday’s expected storm. Hundreds of unhoused people living along the riverbed are especially vulnerable to rising waters. It was a race against time on Wednesday to ensure everybody knows it.
An atmospheric river brought heavy rain, flooding and unseasonably warm temperatures to the Pacific Northwest, closing rail links, schools and roads as it shattered daily rainfall and temperature records in Washington state.
Tropical Storm Hilary drenched Southern California from the coast to the desert resort city of Palm Springs and inland mountains, forcing rescuers to pull several people from swollen rivers.
By early Monday, remnants of the storm that first brought soaking rains to Mexico’s arid Baja California peninsula and the border city of Tijuana, threatened Nevada and as far north as Oregon and Idaho with flooding.
Southern Californians were battling flooded roads, mudslides and downed trees.
All told, last week’s system-wide storm surge left more than 5,200 Imperial Irrigation District customers without power — some for minutes, some for hours — and caused between $1 million and $1.5 million in damages to two high-voltage transmission lines, according to the most recent IID projections.
As another round of heavy storms battered California, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that he would ease state rules to allow local water agencies to more easily redirect floodwaters to replenish the state’s severely depleted groundwater supplies.
The move comes amid criticism that California has flushed trillions of gallons of water out to sea during this winter’s repeated deluges. Water agencies and experts say the state’s strict rules that limit who can take water from streams and creeks have prohibited the local agencies from capturing the excessive flows, though California desperately needs to bank water for its next drought.
More than 9,000 California residents were under evacuation orders Friday as a new atmospheric river brought heavy rain, thunderstorms and strong winds, swelling rivers and creeks and flooding several major highways and small rural communities.
In Santa Cruz County, a creek bloated by rain destroyed a portion of Main Street in Soquel, a town of 10,000 people, isolating several neighborhoods. Crews were working to remove trees and other debris and find a way for people to cross the creek, county officials said.
Fresh snow fell in the California mountains on Wednesday, adding to a staggering total that has blocked roads, stranded visitors for days, and left thousands of homes and businesses in the cold without electricity.
The Sierra Nevada range in the north and Southern California mountains were under blizzard warnings for a storm overnight into early Wednesday that snowed in some areas, dumped rain in others and chilled much of the state.
A storm out of the northeast Pacific Ocean drenched much of San Diego County before dawn on Wednesday.
Skies are expected to be dry at 5 p.m. when Oregon and North Carolina compete in the Holiday Bowl at Petco Park in downtown San Diego.
The snowstorm that pounded the Sierra over the weekend sent crews racing to clear clotted roadways and restore electricity service to tens of thousands of households left in the dark after powerful winds sheared trees that toppled power lines.
A potent storm that took aim at the Northwest earlier in the week will drop down into California on Wednesday, setting the region up to receive drought-relieving rain and snow — and the rainfall could set records on Christmas Eve.
Increasing amounts of moisture will move onshore on Wednesday, and snow is anticipated to develop across the Sierra Nevada mountain range. This will be the beginning of an extended stretch of wet weather for the Southwest, according to AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok.
By Wednesday night, heavy rain will drench the California coast as well as the southwestern edge of the Sierra Nevada. San Francisco and San Jose, California, are just two of the cities that will receive needed precipitation. Heavy snow is expected to begin across the Sierra Nevada as well as parts of the Klamath Mountains.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
