Season’s First Snow Dusts County Mountains

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the mountains of San Diego County, where the season’s first snowfall dusted the ground and frosted the trees Sunday.

Two inches of snow fell on Mount Laguna, and the snow level dropped to 5,000 feet, according to the National Weather Service. Heavy snow on Interstate 8 near Julian had drivers slipping and sliding throughout the afternoon and evening, the California Highway Patrol reported. No roads were closed by early Sunday evening, but motorists were advised to carry tire chains just in case, said a CHP spokeswoman.

“It started about noon, and it’s been snowing off and on all afternoon,” said Cuyamaca Rancho State Park ranger Norris Gaines. “Caltrans is really on top of it, just plowing and sanding the roads as needed,” Gaines said. Snow was reported at Julian, Alpine and Palomar Mountain, but no snowfall figures were available from the National Weather Service.

Residents of Palomar Mountain had more than a picturesque snowfall--they also had a power outage. A lightning bolt struck a utility pole in the Rincon area, east of Valley Center, at 12:11 p.m., knocking out power and phone lines to some 400 customers, said San Diego Gas & Electric spokeswoman Becky Obayashi. Most of were in the Rincon Indian Reservation or on Palomar Mountain, and power was restored to two-thirds of the area by 2:16 p.m., she said. Obayashi said it was not known when power would be restored to the rest of the area, because rough mountainous terrain made access difficult for work crews.

Hail and Rain, Too

Elsewhere in the county, the passing storm dumped hail and rain sporadically throughout the day, causing “a lot of little fender benders” on the roads, according to the CHP.

The rainfall, tallied at 4 p.m. for the previous 24 hours, was .06 of an inch for Lindbergh Field, but much heavier in some areas of North County. About .45 of an inch of rain fell in Vista on Sunday, and .30 in Fallbrook. Precipitation was measured at .17 of an inch in Escondido, .16 in Oceanside and .12 in Poway, according to weather service statistics.

This weekend’s storm brought total rainfall for the season to 2.40 inches, still behind the normal measurement of 2.46 inches for this time of year, according to the weather service.

20% Chance of Showers in Morning

The snow and rain should be long gone by this afternoon. There is a 20% chance of showers early this morning, giving way to a clearer, warmer afternoon in all areas of the county, according to the weather service. “There is no more rain on the horizon,” said a weather service spokesman. “We are going to have a cloudy period on Wednesday, but no rain is expected through the rest of the week.”

High temperatures of 60 to 67 degrees are forecast for downtown, the beaches, inland valleys and deserts today. Coastal lows will be 45 to 53 degrees, with inland lows dipping into the 30s in some areas.

The mountains will remain wintry, with highs of 37 to 47 degrees and overnight lows of 28 to 35 degrees.