The second of two El Niño-driven Pacific storms hit San Diego County today, bringing wintry weather, mountain snow, big waves at the beaches and widespread downpours.
In a two-day period ending at 8 this morning, rainfall amounts collected by automated gauges in the mountains ranged from .03 of an inch in Ranchita to 1.13 inches at Birch Hill, according to preliminary data from the National Weather Service.
Rainfall in the valleys ranged from .08 of an inch in the Dulzura area to .63 of an inch in Rainbow, and along the coast from .02 of an inch in Del Mar to .71 of an inch in Oceanside.
Along Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach, merchants were piling up sand bags to keep the storm water out of their stores.
“Getting ready for the big one," said Greg Hildebrand, owner of Cow Records. "Once there has been some rainy days, the ground is saturated. When the rain comes it rushes down the hill.”
Just before the rains arrived in San Diego a group of homeless people were evicted from their tents in a freeway underpass after the San Diego Police Department made a scheduled sweep of the area.
Steven Hillard was upset that the city went through with the sweep at Commercial Street, removing tents and personal property, just in time for the rain.
“They do that all the time. Whether it’s wintertime. You can’t have a tent up,” Hillard said. “It’s raining, they don’t care. And I don’t understand why it’s like that.”
Rainfall Figures
Lake Morena: 1.52 inches
Lake Henshaw: 0.76 of an inch
Rincon Springs: 0.65 of an inch
Bonsal: 0.61 of an inch
Escondido at Sutherland Dam: 0.52 of an inch
Oceanside: 0.48 of an inch
Poway: 0.48 of an inch
Granite Hills area: 0.45 of an inch
McClellan-Palomar Airport: 0.44 of an inch
Wohlford Dam: 0.44 of an inch
Campo: 0.42 of an inch
Rainbow Camp: 0.4 of an inch
Dulzura Summit: 0.38 of an inch
Montgomery Field: 0.33 of an inch
San Ysidro: 0.32 of an inch
Brown Field: 0.27 of an inch
La Mesa: 0.27 of an inch
Bonita: 0.24 of an inch
Note: These figures are for the 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m. Monday.
In a statement, San Diego Police spokeswoman Sgt. Lisa McKean said police provided support to the city’s Environmental Services Department. The sweep began at 6:30 a.m. and ended when the rains began. Some people were arrested for outstanding warrants. Their belongings were bagged and held by police.
Hillard said homeless returned just after police left, to seek shelter from Monday’s high winds and rain.
About a foot of snow had fallen on Palomar Mountain by mid-morning, prompting authorities to require that tire chains be used in the area.
A winter storm warning for the mountains is scheduled to take expire at 3 a.m. Tuesday. A wind advisory for the valleys, mountains and deserts was extended until 8 tonight. A high surf advisory for the coast will be upgraded to a warning at noon, and a coastal flood advisory will run to noon Tuesday.
"A cold Pacific storm from the northwest will move across Southern California today and into Baja tonight,'' according to the weather service.
"Numerous snow showers will develop today and continue into early evening, decreasing tonight into early Tuesday.''
Forecasters said the snow level would drop to about 4,000 feet by tonight. Up to 14 inches of snow could accumulate in altitudes of more than 5,500 feet, and up to 18 inches could fall in areas higher than 7,000 feet.
Gusty west to northwest winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour with gusts to 50 mph may blow snow across roadways in the mountains causing visibility to drop to near zero. Those who live in or are traveling through the mountains today were advised to carry tire chains, extra food and clothing.
High temperatures today were predicted to be around 10 to 15 degrees below average -- 56 to 61 degrees in the western valleys, 47 to 52 degrees near the foothills, 40 to 47 degrees in the mountains, 60 to 65 degrees in the deserts and around 59 degrees near the coast. Forecasters said near normal temperatures would return Tuesday.
At the beaches, the surf is expected to build to 6 to 10 feet with isolated sets to 15 feet late today through tonight.
"Very large surf will hit the beaches today through Tuesday morning.
The combination of this surf, gusty winds and projected high tides of over 6 feet will threaten coastal flooding, particularly around times of high tide this morning and Tuesday morning,'' according to the NWS. "The threat of damaging surf and coastal flooding will diminish Tuesday.''
Some piers may sustain damage and low-lying areas like beach parking lots, nearby roadways and walking paths will be at risk for flooding. The surf and strong rip currents will cause dangerous swimming conditions, and the waves be high enough to top jetties or sea walls.
