A strong El Nino-fueled storm brought wintry weather to San Diego County mountains Monday.
The intense part of the two-part storm swept through the County early Monday morning, prompting a thunderstorm warning, a winter storm warning, a high surf warning, and an aviation weather warning.
The San Diego County Department of Public Works said Monday anyone heading to the mountains will no longer need chains on their car; however, officials recommend you have chains in your car just in case.
Julian Union School District and Julian Union High School District officials released students early as a result of the weather. Both districts will resume class on Tuesday at the standard, 1.5 hour delayed start time. Students at Spencer Valley will resume classes at a one-hour delayed start time of 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
NBC 7's Meteorologist Dagmar Midcap said 1 to 3 inches of snowfall could fall at elevations of 3,500 to 4,500 feet. Three to 6 inches are expected between 4,500 feet elevation and 6,000 feet. Above 6,000 feet, the County mountains could see 6 to 10 inches of snow.
Local
At least four inches of snow fell at the 4,000 feet elevation mark at Palomar Mountain.
Trucks & cars pulling over at 5000ft point of Mt Laguna to put on chains. #NBC7 pic.twitter.com/X4k2a30BfU
— Omari Fleming (@OmariNBCSD) March 7, 2016
San Diegans heading north up to Mount Laguna said once they got further up the mountain, the snow started to intensify.
"Driving conditions are pretty snowy,going up the mountain here," said driver Andrew Sloater. "We had to turn around when we got to the top there. The truck was sliding a bit and [we] didn't want to put the chains on."
