The work week started off a bit cooler with more clouds and higher humidity all ahead of our first storm of the season that will bring periods of rain to San Diego County Wednesday through Saturday.
Tuesday will be dry with increasing clouds in the afternoon, a perfect day to prepare for the rain by checking your tire pressure and tread, replacing windshield wipers if needed, and clearing debris from your gutters.
A closed low is off the coast of Northern California and will continue to stall offshore for a few more days. We'll see two rounds of rain with this system, the first with a weak atmospheric river Wednesday evening into Wednesday night then a second stronger round of rain as the system moves in overhead late Friday into Saturday.
Due to the closed-low nature of the system, it makes forecasting the timing and totals a little tricky but weather models are coming into better agreement that the bulk of the rain will arrive with the second round of rain late Friday into Saturday.
Round 1:
While a few light showers will be possible during the day Wednesday expect scattered showers to build by Wednesday evening after 5/6pm which will impact the evening commute for some. Shower activity tapers off by Thursday morning but the roads may be wet and could lead to a slow commute. Average rainfall totals will be between .25 to .50".
Thursday will mostly be dry before a second round of more widespread and heavier rain arrives late Friday into Saturday.
Round 2:
Timing with the second round of rain comes down to when this storm finally pushes into California. As of now, it looks like the most widespread rain will arrive Friday evening into Saturday. Expected scattered to widespread showers with periods of heavy rain. This second round will have higher totals between .50 to 1.00" with locally higher totals, especially in the mountains.
Rainfall totals from Wednesday through Saturday will average between .50 to 1.50" from the coast to the mountains with less than .40" in the deserts. Not a huge wind maker but we will notice the wind picking up in the mountains and deserts with westerly gusts of 25 to 45mph.
Temperatures will also be trending 10 to 20 degrees cooler than it has been recently with 60s and 70s for the coast and valleys, 50s in the mountains and 70s and 80s in the deserts.
This storm will not only help our water year total, as San Diego has a deficit of .75", but it will also raise our fuel moisture levels so when Santa Ana winds return the threat of fire won't be as high.
Tuesday's Highs:
Coast: 70-75°
Inland: 73-83°
Mountains: 63-77°
Deserts: 80-82°
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