Already sodden San Diego is bracing for another soaking. Three back-to-back-to-back storms head into Southern California, starting this afternoon.
The sun was out and the sky was blue just before noon in Carlsbad. Enjoy it while it lasts, we're about to get blasted by another storm.
"I'll enjoy it as long as I can, but it's starting to get cold," said Erika Eifler, as she sketched a Valentine's day portrait for her boyfriend.
Elswhere along the beach in Carlsbad, people were wearing sweatshirts and light coats. They know the rain is coming, so they're enjoying the clear sky while it lasts.
Scattered showers will sprinkle San Diego through about 3:00 p.m. Friday, forecaster said. Expect heavier, steadier rain into Friday night, tapering off back to showers Saturday morning. We could see as much as half an inch of rain near the coast to about an inch in the foothills.
The snow level has already dropped below 4,000' and we could see some accumulation on Interstate-8. In the meantime, we're expecting a pretty good amount of snow in the higher elevations and could see another 5-10" on the Laguna and Palomar peaks come Saturday midday.
This first storm "should" move out by Saturday afternoon so, hopefully your Valentines Day plans won't get washed away. Sunday will be cool and breezy with increasing clouds through the day and the rain beginning to fall by mid afternoon. This could be a very powerful storm with a couple of inches of rain to the west and 2-3 times that amount in the east county. The snow level could drop below 3,000' this go-around, which could produce travel problems through the mountains of all of Southern California. We could end up with more than a foot of snow in our higher elevations and up to a couple of feet of powder at Big Bear and Wrightwood.
A third, weaker system could keep the wet weather in place into Tuesday as it moves in right on the heels of the stronger storm and wait, yet another big storm is out on the horizon. It should move in by Friday or Saturday of next week and again, is expected to pack quite a punch with abundant rainfall and plenty of new, mountain snow.
