Two Fast-Moving Storms Expected During Weekend

The first day of March may have crawled in like a tired old circus lion with barely a growl, but the tails of two fast-moving storms this weekend will pepper San Diego with rain, clouds and cooler temperatures.

A 30% to 40% chance of rain is predicted for Saturday, followed by a second storm Sunday night or Monday morning, National Weather Service forecaster Wilbur Shigehara said. After a brief respite, a third storm will barrel in Tuesday, he said.

Saturday’s storm from Hawaii will be weak and bring less than a quarter of an inch of rain to San Diego County before it heads to Northern California, Shigehara said. Likewise, Sunday’s storm, which originated east of Korea, will drop only small amounts of rain before moving north.

“March is the second wettest month of the year,” Shigehara said. “If it follows its normal pattern, we could get some significant rain this month.”

February, however, did not follow its usual pattern. A Weather Service report released Thursday shows last month to have been the coldest February since 1966, with an average temperature of 55.2 degrees, or 3.2 degrees below normal.

Cold air that originated from Siberia brought snow to much of the county on Valentine’s Day. Minimum temperatures in agricultural areas fell to 19 and caused frost damage to about 5% of the crops. The rainfall in February was 1.1 inches.

This weekend will bring cooler temperatures, Shigehara said. The high Thursday at Lindbergh Field was 63, 4 degrees shy of the normal for this time of year.

Highs at the beaches will range from 55 to 60 today through Sunday, Shigehara said. The ocean temperature is 58 degrees and the surf is 4 to 5 feet.

Daytime temperatures along the coast and inland this weekend will range from 60 to 67 degrees, Shigehara said. Coastal lows of 45 to 52 are expected, 40 to 50 inland.

Highs in the mountains will be a cold 45 to 50, with overnight lows in the mid-30s, Shigehara said. Winds of up to 25 m.p.h. at times are forecast through Sunday.

The storms are not expected to bring snow to local mountains, Shigehara said.

Desert highs will range from 74 to 78 degrees through Sunday, overnight lows from 45 to 50, he said.