Round two of this week’s rain is on track to arrive overnight. By Thursday morning, we’re expecting widespread, heavy rain, starting in the North County coastal areas and sweeping south and east throughout the morning. So, it will likely be a very wet morning commute most places. The models have a band of heavy rain moving through sometime between 5am and 7am.
TIMELINE:
TONIGHT: MOSTLY DRY, SHOWERS MOVE IN OVERNIGHT
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THURSDAY AM – HEAVY RAIN CHANCES 4AM TO NOON, FLOOD WATCH
THURSDAY PM – SCATTERED, POSSIBLE T-STORMS, MTN SNOW, WINDY
FRIDAY – ISOLATED LIGHT SHOWERS
Weather
WEEKEND – DRIER, WARMER
The window for heavy rain looks to be between 4am and noon Thursday. Rain rates could exceed 0.75”/hr at times. So, urban flooding is certainly possible. A FLOOD WATCH is in effect through Thursday afternoon. In addition to what we got Tuesday, this next round could add another 1”-1.5” of rain for areas west of the mountains, with higher totals for the foothills/mtns. Some of that mountain rain will eventually turn to snow later Thursday during the colder portion of the storm.
The WIND ADVISORY for the deserts goes into effect later tonight, and has now been extended to include the coast, valleys, mtns from noon to 8pm Thursday.
Most of the heavier showers should taper off by Thursday afternoon. Colder air will move in behind the heavier rain bringing chances for isolated thunderstorms. This will also be when the snow level begins to lower. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect for San Diego’s mountains from 6am to 11pm Thursday. Snow levels could drop down to around 3000-3500 feet, which would mean snow on I-8 by late Thursday night/Friday morning. Areas above 5,000 feet, like Palomar Mtn and Mt Laguna could see 3”-8” of new snow.
By Friday, a few lingering scattered showers are possible into the afternoon hours. The weekend is looking drier, and warmer. Another chance for rain moves in for Monday morning.
For the first time in a long time, we are actually ahead of normal for our monthly rainfall. We are on track for our first above average rain month in about a year. March is more than an inch ahead of normal so far. We are still about 60% behind on the season, but we'll be making up more ground before the end of the week.
Stay tuned to our NBC7 First Alert Weather Team for updates on the timing and totals of the upcoming storms as we fine-tune the details.
THURSDAY
- COAST: rain, heavy at times, windy - mid 50s
- VALLEYS: rain, heavy at times, windy - mid 50s
- MTNS: rain turning to snow, windy - upper 30s
- DESERTS: chance showers - 60s
