Rainy New Year’s Eve and Start to 2023 Expected in San Diego County
Rain could dampen the spirits of revelers on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, according to the National Weather Service.
“A pretty strong storm is moving south right now from Northern California and will bring rain to Southern California starting Saturday night,” said NWS forecaster Mark Moede. “It will probably only bring light rain during the day on Saturday, but the real time of concern for revelers will be Saturday from 8 p.m. until 3 a.m. Sunday morning.”
2023 is bringing us an #AtmosphericRiver for its arrival! Because 280 characters is never enough to summarize these, here's another
of our updates and what we're expecting! #CAwx (1/6)
— NWS San Diego (@NWSSanDiego) December 30, 2022
Moede characterized the incoming winter storm as being “of the atmospheric river” variety, bringing heavy rain within a short time.
“The storm will bring some heavy rain and we will have flooding in low-lying areas prone to it late in the evening, from three quarters of an inch to as much as an inch-and-a-quarter of rain in some spots in a matter of three or four hours,” he said.
Highs Saturday are expected to reach 63 along the coast, 65 in the western valleys, 62 near the foothills, 59 in the mountains and 72 in the deserts, according to the weather agency.
Moede said the storm will move out of the area on Sunday adding, “It will be mostly dry but breezy to very windy in all areas after that.”
Forecasters issued a wind advisory for San Diego County starting at 8 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, extending to 4 p.m. on New Year’s Day.
West winds of 15 to 25 mph are expected, with gusts up to 40 mph. Isolated gusts up to 55 mph may be possible along hilltops and mountain slopes.
The meteorologist cautioned boaters against going out on the water on Sunday. “It is going to be very windy out there on Sunday and we are issuing a gale warning for both inner and outer coastal waters. It is not going to be pleasant for any boaters out there with extremely windy conditions and choppy seas.
Their best bet is to stay in harbor.”
The forecaster said a second storm is expected to move into San Diego County on Monday afternoon. “It will not be as strong as this first storm, but we are expecting as much as a quarter of an inch to three-quarters-of-an-inch of rain,” he said.
City News Service contributed to this report.
Updated 9:05 p.m. Dec. 30, 2022