Pacific Storm Prompts Coastal Water Advisory In San Diego

>>> As our winter storm continues to property damage has yet to be counted. A new survey by the -- by NOAA finds that last year's fires, hurricanes and flooding may be the most expensive year for national disasters in U.S. history. Joining me as Alex the meteorologist with the National Weather Service. First to our stormy weather. We spoke about what to expect from the storm in San Diego County. Rains apparently have been a little heavier than expected. >> The first onset of rain that really started yesterday afternoon around 5:00 p.m. continued most of last night and is just now tapering off during the morning hours. The rain was heavy. It was not heavy all at once, but when you added up over that 12 hour period, we saw places in downtown with 1.5 inches of rain and places in North County with two inches of rain. And we are luckily getting a little bit of a break right now, but it is not over with. >> When is it expected to start up again? >> The showers are starting to fill back in right now. We are seeing them develop on whether radar. The next round of rainfall looks to be 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Really surrounding the cart of the commute this afternoon. There will be downpours with that rain when it moves in. We could see .25 inches of rain per hour. >> I want to ask you a couple of questions regarding the noble report -- and OAA report. The grand total is $306 billion in damages. Tell us about the major events on the list. >> Yes, it is remarkable each year that it is put out sometimes you see things like drought a couple of years ago. It is a big number even though it doesn't sound like it. This year we had a lot of traditional weather. Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, the storms in February that pretty much almost knocked out Lake Orville was severe damage to the spillway. We had weather in San Diego that was quite expansive if you recall back in February of last year. And of course, other parts of the country had massive flash floods, tornadoes, and that added up to a multibillion-dollar disasters you're referring to >> This was, as I said, the most costly year on record for the U.S. Is the actual amount of damage caused by natural damage -- disasters, is the damage increasing or does it cost more to fix? >> Usually what we do is take a look at a hurricane for example or even a Pacific storm, and we can extrapolate that in 1980 this is how much it would cost and then add in the factor of what if that occurred in 2017. We do that for all these big major events. It still looks like we are having more events occurring. Those events are more costly. It is not just a factor of inflation. >> So you have told us that we are seeing showers now, but we are looking for heavy rain's with some downpours right during the afternoon commute. How much total brain do you think we will get out of this storm when it wraps up? And when is it going to wrap up? >> Most places will see another half inch of rain. If you PADD 1 and a half inches, that will bring it up to two inches of rain. And then another inch of rain in the Fallbrook, Escondido, another inch of rain. That will give some places total rainfall of 2.5 to three inches. It doesn't mean it will make up for our entire deficit. But it does mean when it's all said and done, everyone will see 1.5 inches to 3 inches of rain. Is pretty remarkable considering we were at our dryer start to the water year ever as of yesterday. >> And of course San Diego and Southern California is not the only region that's getting a lot of winter weather right now. Is there any cold-weather, any snow storms in the north bringing any snow to the mountains cracks >> The one thing we are missing this year for sure other than just getting rain is developing any snow pack. It is about 10% of where it should be in the Sierra Nevada. Places like Bigbear were some of us might go skiing have received no snow. The good news is that now it is snowing and big bear and it has changed over the snow. Colder air is coming in. As this line that's bringing another round of heavy rain into San Diego County, when that storm slight through this afternoon and evening and San Diego, we will see more snow in the mountains. >> And then we go back to sunny and warm at the end of this week for San Diego. >> Yes. Sometimes when you see these big snows, it brings more down the road. It doesn't look like that will be the case. We will be above normal by this weekend. The long-range projections are indicating for a chance for some active weather to come back, but we may have to wait until after January 20. >> I have been speaking with our meteorologist for the National Weather Service. Thank you.