An atmospheric river has brought rain, heavy downpours at times, gusty winds, and scattered thunderstorms to the county today. A closed low off the coast of California associated with this atmospheric river will bring another round of rain by week's end as it finally pushes through California.
The first round of rain will taper off overnight with mostly dry conditions Thursday. Rainfall totals today have ranged from a few hundredths of an inch to nearly .75" with the highest totals in the north county. An Aviation Weather Warning is also in effect until 8:30pm due to strong winds that could impact flights.
Today was 10 to nearly 20 degrees cooler than yesterday with cooler weather on tap through the weekend.
The timing of the second round of rain has slowed with a chance of showers mostly holding off until Friday night with isolated to scattered showers through the day Saturday. Rainfall totals will average between .15" to .75" from the coast to the mountains with less than .20" in the deserts. The threat for thunderstorms will be low with this second round but it will be cooler with highs in the 60s and 70s for most of the county and 50s in the mountains.
This storm will not only help our water year total, as San Diego has a deficit of .78", but it will also raise our fuel moisture levels so when Santa Ana winds return the threat of fire won't be as high.
Santa Ana winds are expected to return as early as next week and these winds could potentially be strong. Expect sunny, warm, dry and windy weather early next week with temperatures returning to the 70s at the coast, 80s inland, 60s in the mountains and 80s in the deserts.
Thursday's Highs:
Coast: 67-72°
Inland: 70-76°
Mountains: 57-70°
Deserts: 78-82°
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