Rainfall and high surf expected for Thursday in coastal Orange County
It looks like gray skies and rain will continue for a few more days in coastal Orange County, but the sun is expected to shine again starting Friday.
The county will see scattered showers Wednesday, though rainfall isn’t expected to reach more than a quarter of an inch. Thursday will be the day to look out for, as meteorologists at the National Weather Service station in San Diego are forecasting a “real drencher” with widespread rain expected to last throughout the day.
Over New Year’s weekend, beginning Friday and ending Sunday, the total average rainfall in the drier parts of the region was about 1 inch, officials reported, while the wetter areas received an average of 2 inches. Similar amounts of rain are expected Thursday. Flooding is not expected in coastal Orange County.
Coto de Caza saw about 3.62 inches of rainfall over the weekend, and voluntary evacuations were in place for Silverado and Williams Canyon on New Year’s Eve through New Year’s Day in case of possible debris flow in the burn scar of the 2020 Bond fire.
Meteorologist Brandt Maxwell said it’s possible the Orange County coast will see its largest surf in more than a decade. He noted waves off Huntington Beach reached 14 feet in January 2012.
Local waves Thursday are expected to average around 8 to 12 feet, though they could exceed that, Maxwell said, and will likely be higher in neighboring San Diego County.
No precipitation is forecast for Friday, and a drier weekend is expected, at least for Southern California.
Stormy weather isn’t uncommon for this time of year, according to Maxwell, who noted the state’s wet season spans from late November through mid-April.
“If we’re going to have rain, this is the time to get it,” he said.
The recent spate of storms is attributed to atmospheric rivers coming from the Pacific Ocean, mixed with a low pressure trough over the region.
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