Storm Expected to Bring Rain, Cold Air Today

Yet another storm, lurking in the Pacific, is predicted to arrive this afternoon, following in the footsteps of Monday’s record-breaker, weather forecasters said.

The new storm will be about half as strong as Monday’s, which dropped 1.95 inches at Lindbergh Field, a record for March 2, Wilbur Shigehara of the National Weather Service in San Diego said.

Today’s storm will drop half an inch to an inch of rain in the San Diego area, Shigehara said, starting as early as the afternoon, with heavier rainfall expected in the evening.

The wet weather will last through Friday, when periodic showers are expected for most of the day, Shigehara said. There is also a possibility of thunderstorms Friday, Shigehara said.

Like the last storm, today’s will have plenty of cold air from the Gulf of Alaska behind it, Shigehara said. The storm front will drop temperatures throughout the county, Shigehara said.

The high temperature throughout the county will be 63 degrees today, Shigehara said. The normal high for today is 66 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm has prompted the weather service to issue a winter storm watch in the mountains, where the snow level is expected to drop to the 4,000 feet by Friday, Shigehara said. Strong winds, up to 35 m.p.h., are expected in the mountains tonight and Friday. The high temperature in the mountains will be 41 degrees and the low will be in the 30s, Shigehara said.

San Diego receives an average of 1.6 inches of rainfall during March, Shigehara said. The storm that began on Monday dropped a total of 2.09 inches, putting San Diego well over its quota for rainfall this month.

Recent rainfall will have only a minimal effect on the drought, Shigehara said.

“We import 90% of our water, we don’t rely on local water,” Shigehara said.

The reservoirs that provide San Diego with drinking water are primarily in Northern California, and are only “about 60% full,” Shigehara said.

Shigehara’s 90-day forecast does not include any significant amounts of rain for Northern California, he said.