San Diego County is expected to be mostly dry during the extended Martin Luther King Day weekend, but temperatures will likely be cooler than normal — and meteorologists predict that new storms could cycle ashore late next week.
The National Weather Service said there could be sporadic showers in the region’s mountains Saturday and Sunday, while the coast could see sprinklings of precipitation during the same period. Otherwise, local roads are expected to dry out from the week’s previous storms.
Weather forecasters said local skies will be partly cloudy Saturday and Sunday, and that temperatures should be four to five degrees below normal on both days. Monday is slated to be mostly sunny, and San Diego city will likely reach its seasonal daytime high of 64 degrees on that day.
The long-term forecast shows that one or two storms could push into Southern California late next week, but the size and timing of those moisture systems aren’t clear yet.
Rainfall totals for this week’s storms in San Diego County
Since the rainy season began Oct. 1, San Diego International Airport — the official weather station for the city of San Diego — has recorded 5.6 inches of precipitation, which is 1.7 inches above normal.
On Friday, the county was again grappling with wet weather.
The California Highway Patrol got a report of a rock slide across state Route 78 east of Wynola Road, at the top of the Banner Grade, about 8:20 a.m.
About the same time, a boulder was reported in traffic lanes at state routes 79 and 76 near Lake Henshaw.
A three-foot boulder rolled into the middle of Couser Canyon Road west of Pala Loma Drive in Valley Center about 7:30 a.m., the CHP said.
And amid the usual onslaught of car spin-outs and crashes around the county’s freeway, the back end of one pickup ended up atop a concrete divider at Interstate 5 north of state Route 78 in Oceanside about 4:30 a.m. It took quite a while for a tow truck to pull it loose.
The following is a sampling of rainfall in some areas of the county for the 72-hour period ending at noon Friday, according to the weather service: 2.12 inches on Palomar Mountain, 1.61 inches in Julian, 1.42 inches in Fallbrook, 1.29 inches in Oceanside, 1.27 inches in Encinitas, 1.24 inches in Alpine, 1.23 inches in Poway, 1.22 inches in San Ysidro, 1.17 inches in Chula Vista, 1.16 inches in Ramona, 0.70 of an inch at San Diego International Airport, 0.68 of an inch in Solana Beach, 0.67 of an inch at Lake Murray and 0.36 of an inch in La Jolla
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