A winter storm moving over Southern California delivered widespread showers to the San Diego area Tuesday.
As of midday, the unsettled atmospheric system, which was expected to linger into midweek, had dropped anywhere from a hundredth of an inch to more than one inch of rain across San Diego County.
Though the bands of dark clouds were expected to shed less moisture locally than in other SoCal communities to the north, the National Weather Service issued a flood watch for the San Diego region's coastal, inland-valley and mountain communities through Wednesday morning. The rainfall will have the potential to cause flooding and debris flows, including landslides, the federal agency reported.
Additionally, a high-surf advisory was in effect through late Tuesday night.
The snow level was expected to fall as low as the 6,000-foot mark — around the elevation of the highest San Diego-area mountain peaks — by Wednesday morning, forecasters said.
Among the local rainfall totals as of noon Tuesday, according to the NWS, were 1.17 inches on Palomar Mountain; 0.84 in Lower Oat Flats; 0.82 on Birch Hill; 0.79 at Camp Pendleton; 0.6 in Encinitas; 0.58 in Carlsbad and Oceanside; 0.48 at Rainbow Camp; 0.47 in San Marcos; 0.43 in Rancho Bernardo; 0.41 in Bonsall; 0.4 in Fallbrook and Point Loma; 0.39 in Couser Canyon; 0.33 in Deer Springs; 0.32 in San Onofre; and 0.3 at Lake Wohlford.
The precipitation tallies also included 0.28 of an inch at Naval Air Station North Island; 0.26 in Vista; 0.25 in Rincon Springs; 0.24 on Mount Woodson; 0.23 in Mesa Grande and at Miramar Lake; 0.21 at San Diego International Airport and in Skyline Ranch; 0.17 at Ramona Airport; 0.15 in Mission Valley and National City; 0.14 in Valley Center; and 0.13 in Goose Valley.
Other rainfall amounts were 0.12 of an inch in Santee and Warner Springs; 0.11 in Oak Grove and Ramona; 0.1 in Santa Ysabel; 0.09 in Julian; 0.08 in Kearny Mesa, Pine Hills and Poway; 0.06 in Granite Hills and Harbison Canyon; 0.05 in Barona, Chula Vista, Julian, La Mesa and San Diego Country Estates; 0.03 in Descanso and Flinn Springs; 0.02 in Alpine and at Brown Field; and 0.01 in Campo, Pine Valley and Ranchita.
No precipitation was reported in San Diego-area desert locales.
The rains will weaken Wednesday and dwindle away completely by Thursday, with mild temperatures expected through the weekend. More light rain is in the forecast for the beginning of next workweek.
