Little Time for Drying Out : Weather: Monday’s rainfall set a record for the date at Lindbergh Field, and more is on the way Friday.

A respite from the blustery Alaskan storm that brought record rainfall, waterspouts and snow to the county earlier this week will be short-lived, as a second storm is expected to push in Friday, the National Weather Service said.

The strength of this second storm cannot be estimated, but it is expected to last at least through Saturday, said Wilbur Shigehara, senior meteorologist for the National Weather Service. Skies today and Thursday should be sunny and dry, with temperatures in the mid-60s, he said.

Surf between 4 and 8 feet, combined with high tides, has prompted the Weather Service to keep its heavy surf advisory in effect through today. The surf will begin diminishing Thursday, but tides will remain high, slightly above 7 feet, until they peak Friday morning.

Monday’s storm was felt throughout the county, causing waterspouts that damaged a North County mobile home park, power outages and nightmarish commutes. By Tuesday, however, the evidence of the tempest was nil.

“You go out there now, and there are no puddles,” Shigehara said. “Everything soaked into the ground. We have to keep the storms coming if we’re going to beat this drought. We have to have some runoff to fill the reservoirs and get the rivers running.”

Lindbergh Field received 1.15 inches of rain in Monday’s storm, making it the wettest Dec. 7 on record. The previous record was set in 1918, when .82 inches fell.

Coronado was the wettest spot in the county, getting 1.65 inches of rain. Elsewhere, Julian and Oceanside got 1.12 inches, National City got 1.36, Escondido got 1.32, El Cajon and Vista got 1.07, and Santee got 1.05.

Monday’s rain brought the season total to 1.66 inches, Shigehara said. Although it eclipsed the 1.27 inches reached last year at this time, it was substantially behind the seasonal norm of 2.02 inches to be expected by now, he said.

December, the fourth-wettest month of the year, averages 1.36 inches of rain, Shigehara said. With this week’s storm, and a brief rain on Dec. 4, the monthly total stands at 1.56.

Three feet of snow fell on Mt. Laguna at the 6,200-foot level, Shigehara said. The snow was slushy, but continued to hold Tuesday, he said.

Rain-slicked roads created their usual commuter chaos. Between midnight and 5:30 p.m. Monday, the California Highway Patrol responded to more than 300 accidents, most of them chain-reaction fender-benders.

Unlike Orange County, where massive flooding forced the closing of the Costa Mesa Freeway in Tustin, the California Department of Transportation reported no road closings in San Diego. Flooding that occurred on California 78 and on Basilone Road in North County was not extensive enough to warrant closing roads, a CHP spokesman said.

More than 20,000 San Diego Gas & Electric customers were without electricity when wind-felled trees and branches struck power lines, said spokesman Fred Vaughn. Utility crews restored power to all its customers by Monday night, he said.

Before the next storm moves in Friday night, days will be sunny with occasional clouds, Shigehara said. The highs along the coast and inland will range from 65 to 69, and overnight lows will be in the 40s and 50s, he said.