LAST STORM SENDS RAIN TOTALS ABOVE AVERAGE

With below-average rain the previous 2 seasons, region still catching up

The cold, windy Pacific storm that drenched much of San Diego County late Tuesday night and Wednesday pushed seasonal rainfall at San Diego International Airport above average for the first time in three years, according to the National Weather Service.

Through 4 p.m. Wednesday, the airport has recorded 9.86 inches of precipitation since the rainy season began on Oct. 1. The airport averages 9.79 inches between Oct. 1 and Sept. 30.

San Diego recorded 6.10 inches of rain last season and 4.50 inches the season before that.

“You have to look at the cumulative effect,” said James Brotherton, a weather service forecaster. “We had below-average rain the past two years so we have to make up for that. But this year’s rain is good news.”

The latest storm is like many that have preceded it this winter — extremely windy.

The wind gusted to 86 mph on Palomar Mountain. That’s the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane. Elsewhere, the wind hit 77 mph at Volcan Mountain northeast of Julian, 68 mph at Pine Valley, 67 mph at Julian, 46 mph at Camp Pendleton, 45 mph in Encinitas, 43 mph at Carlsbad Airport, 37 mph in San Diego and 35 mph at Imperial Beach.

Gusty winds knocked a tree onto train tracks in North County, causing a one-hour delay of the southbound Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train 1774 from the Oceanside station. The tracks were cleared and service resumed around 3:30 p.m., according to a Pacific Surfliner Twitter account. Reports of minor flooding and rock slides prompted road closures elsewhere in the county.

The storm made a dramatic exit late in the afternoon, bringing a mixture of rain and hail across the county, with even some snowflakes reported in some of the upper foothills, said weather service forecaster Mark Moede.

Palomar Mountain and Mount Laguna, already white-capped from previous storms, each received another 10 inches of snow.

Reported rainfall included 3.80 inches at Henshaw Dam, 2.13 inches in Santa Ysabel, 2.25 inches in Alpine, 1.86 inches in Valley Center, 1.20 inches in Fallbrook, 1.23 inches in Ramona, 1.14 inches in Escondido, 1.07 in Carlsbad and 1.04 inches in La Mesa.

More than a dozen Southern California cities broke or tied records for lowest maximum temperatures Wednesday, including a high of 46 in Alpine, 54 in El Cajon and 50 in Ramona.

Today is going to start out cold. A frost advisory will be in place from midnight to 8 a.m. in the county’s coastal areas, where temperatures are expected to be in the 34to 40-degree range. In the inland valleys, a freeze warning will be in effect, with some of the coldest valleys such as Ramona dropping to 25 degrees, according to Moede.

The weather service says the daytime high in San Diego won’t rise above the 50s today and will only hit the low 60s through Sunday.

K.C. ALFRED U-T Waves blow in the wind in Mission Beach (foreground) and Ocean Beach on Wednesday. Through 4 p.m. Wednesday, San Diego International Airport has recorded 9.86 inches of precipitation since the rainy season began on Oct. 1.

JIM GRANT FOR THE U-T A rainbow appears over the Ocean Beach Pier as pelicans fly by on Wednesday. The storm moved out in the afternoon with dramatic winds, rain and some hail.

K.C. ALFRED U-T Gusting winds caused white caps to form in San Diego Bay. Winds hit 37 mph in San Diego and even reached Category 1 hurricane strength on Palomar Mountain.