East County could get 8’’ of snow

UPDATE: San Diego braces for cold snap

A cold Alaskan storm will surge into San Diego County late Tuesday and drop up to 8” of snow across parts of East County by New Year’s Eve, says the National Weather Service. The system also will drop pre-dawn temperatures into the upper 30s on New Year’s Day and on Friday in San Diego.

Forecasters say the snow could fall as low as the 2,000-foot level on Tuesday night, affecting areas just east of Alpine. The heaviest snow will fall in Julian, Palomar Mountain and Mount Laguna, which each will get 7’’ to 8’’ of snow. Regionally, the snow could affect travel at Sunrise Pass on Interstate 8 and the Cajon Pass on Interstate 15.

“We think the snow will trail off by noon on Wednesday, so that should give most road crews time to clear snow from most areas by the time people go out for New Year’s Eve on Wednesday,” said Roger Pierce, a weather service forecaster. “But it’s possible the snow will last later into the day.”

The western half of the county will mostly get rain that will start late Tuesday afternoon. About one-quarter of an inch of precipitation is expected to fall along the coast, with slightly more in such inland communities as Escondido, Fallbrook and Ramona. The rain will largely come as showers. But forecasters say the air will be cold and unstable enough to produce brief but intense thunderstorms. Tuesday’s daytime high in San Diego will be 61 -- three degrees below normal. It’ll be 57 on Wednesday and 56 on New Year’s Day.

The rain will round out an unusually wet month. Since December 1st, San Diego’s Lindbergh Field has recorded 4.42’’ of rain, which is 3.14’’ above normal. Ramona has received 3.24’’ of rain, which is about 1.5’’ above normal. The rains have reduced the wildfire danger across the county, but has not wiped out the drought, which is a statewide problem.

NASA photo: Stark proof that California drought is easing