Storm Brings Rain, High Winds Cutting Power to About 50,000

An unexpected pre-dawn storm, with winds whipping at more than 30 m.p.h., left thousands of residents countywide without power Monday and prompted wind advisories for the ocean and mountains, officials said.

About 50,000 San Diego Gas & Electric customers from north of San Marcos to Borrego Springs were without power between 2:19 a.m. and noon Monday, said company spokesman Fred Vaughn. There were also several smaller outages.

Most of the outages were caused by the 33 m.p.h.-winds that blew tree branches into wires, Vaughn said.

The high winds also prompted the National Weather Service Monday to issue a small-craft advisory for the beaches, and a wind advisory for the mountains, said Wilbur Shigehara, senior meteorologist for the agency. Both advisories are expected to be lifted today as winds are expected to subside to 5 to 10 m.p.h., he said.

The storm, which dropped 0.10 of an inch of rain in San Diego, did little to affect traffic on the county’s roads, according to the California Highway Patrol, which reported no accidents during the early morning hours.

The brief storm that originated east of Korea and caused extensive flooding in Seattle, was mostly bluster and little substance in San Diego, Shigehara said.

“This just brings variety to San Diego weather,” Shigehara said. “This is just one of those things that signals a change in the weather.”

Shigehara said all traces of Monday’s storm will be gone by today, and a mild Santa Ana will begin building midweek. Temperatures today are expected to range in the upper 60s and climb into the low 70s by Wednesday.