More Rain Expected Before Storm Fades Away This Weekend

A winter storm that arrived late Sunday afternoon caused scattered power outages and is expected to dump up to 2 inches of rain on San Diego before it dies out this weekend, the National Weather service said Monday.

The storm, accompanied by winds gusting up to 20 m.p.h., arrived Sunday afternoon and brought nearly half an inch of rain by Monday night, said Wilbur Shigehara, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in San Diego.

But the storm, centered about 300 miles off the coast of Northern California, is not expected to bring to San Diego the heavy rain and winds that buffeted points north, Shigehara said.

“Los Angeles is closer to the storm center, which is located off the Northern California coast,” Shigehara said. “San Diego will get only moderate rain, because the main path is through Los Angeles.”

Tree branches hitting power lines caused scattered, short-lived outages Sunday night that affected about 300 people throughout the county, San Diego Gas & Electric spokesman Fred Vaughn said.

Power was restored within minutes to most locations, Vaughn said.

A heavy surf advisory was issued Monday as the storm whipped waves to heights of 8 feet, Shigehara said.

Temperatures Tuesday will range from inland highs in the 50s to mountain lows in the 20s because of the storm, Shigehara said.

The storm brought this season’s rainfall total to 6 inches, Shigehara said, more than the season average of 5.74 inches for this date.

Nearly 2 inches of rain has fallen over a period of five days in San Diego since the beginning of February, Shigehara said.