A weak Pacific storm will blow ashore Wednesday in San Diego County and be followed by a stronger system Friday, dropping up to 1 inch of rain on the region by Saturday, the National Weather Service said.
This will be the first significant rain of autumn for a region that has fallen behind in seasonal precipitation. Since the rainy season began on Oct. 1, San Diego International Airport has recorded only 0.01 inches. The average this time of year is 0.74 inches.
The incoming storms mostly derive from a big system in the Gulf of Alaska that broke apart farther out to sea. Forecasters say the initial wave will arrive Wednesday afternoon and could loosen oily substances on local freeways, making things dicey for motorists. About one-fifth to three-tenths of an inch of rain is expected.
Thursday will be mostly clear. But the second storm system, enhanced by an atmospheric river out of the southwest, could drop more than half an inch of rain west of the mountains and as much as 1 inch on Mount Laguna, forecasters said.
The atmosphere will be too warm to produce snow in the San Diego County mountains, but the change in temperatures through the week will be noticeable.
San Diego hit 80 on Friday, 8 degrees above the seasonal average. The daytime high is expected to be 71 on Wednesday, 68 on Thursday, 67 on Friday and 68 on Saturday.
Julian’s high is forecast to reach 62 on Wednesday, and 53 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The rain “is great news for our fire weather situation,” said Alex Tardy, a weather service forecaster. “Even though we’ve escaped large wildfires, it’s been really dry.”
He added, “There’s really no indication that the ongoing El Niño is going to flare things up.”
It’s unclear whether the county will receive rain on Thanksgiving. But forecasters say a storm is possible in the latter part of November.
