Skies Expected to Clear, but New Storm on the Way

The thunderstorm that passed through San Diego on Thursday should clear out by noon today, but umbrellas and raincoats should be kept handy because another storm is expected to move into the area by Sunday.

Flash flood warnings in the mountain and desert areas, hail the size of marbles in East County and thunder in most areas highlighted Thursday’s storm. It had dropped only 0.02 of an inch of rain at Lindbergh Field by 4 p.m., though as much as an inch more was expected overnight by National Weather Service forecasters.

The low-pressure system that had been so obstinate in September--bringing San Diego cooler-than-normal temperatures and rainfall almost an inch above average for the month--is back, forecaster Wilbur Shigehara said.

“The low-pressure system moved south last weekend, and we got that Santa Ana condition as a result,” Shigehara said. “Now it’s coming back through, and we can thank it for the rain and the clouds. Things will dry out by (this) afternoon but, looking ahead, we see another storm approaching us from Canada, which should come close enough to San Diego by Sunday to bring us some rain.”

The skies over San Diego will partly clear this afternoon and Saturday, and will be mostly cloudy by late Saturday night. Highs at the beaches should range between 67 and 69 degrees today and Saturday, and will drop a degree or two by Sunday. Lows will be between 59 and 62. The ocean temperature was around 65 degrees Thursday, but it is expected to drop.

“The water temperature has dropped to 61 up around San Clemente, so I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if it dropped a few degrees here over the weekend,” Shigehara said.

Inland valleys will have highs from 72 to 78 degrees today and Saturday, and will drop two or three degrees when the clouds roll in Sunday. Overnight lows will be between 50 and 58, warmer than it has been recently because of the cloud coverage.

There might be some frost in the local mountains over the weekend, Shigehara said. High temperatures should only reach 62 degrees, and overnight lows will be between 32 and 42 degrees. Highs in the deserts should reach 88 today and Saturday and will be a few degrees cooler by Sunday. Lows will be in the low 60s.

“There is a flash flood warning in effect in the mountains and deserts through (this) morning,” Shigehara said. “A warning is to warn people to take cover because flash floods could occur; a flash flood watch is issued when flash floods are happening.”