Season’s Rainfall Hits County; Gloom Ahead

San Diego’s second major storm of the season caused a rash of minor accidents and washed out roads across the county Monday while drenching the area, the National Weather Service reported.

The storm system--whose severity is unusual for this time of year--is expected to move on toward Arizona and New Mexico today, leaving behind a dry but gray Thanksgiving.

“We’re far above normal right now,” Wilbur Shigehara, a National Weather Service forecaster, said Monday. “We had more rainfall (Monday) than what the seasonal normal is.”

The average rainfall for San Diego from July 1 to Nov. 25 is 1.5 inches, he said. When the rest of the season’s rainfall totals are added to Monday’s storm count and that of the storm two weeks ago, San Diego has been drenched by 4.51 inches of rain since July 1.

Although Monday’s storm, which drifted into Southern California from Hawaii, will move east and dissipate, Shigehara said the forecast for Thanksgiving is cloudy and cool.

“The clouds will be around, but the rain will stop,” Shigehara said.

He added that Monday’s storm may linger into the early hours of this morning but will dry up by late morning or early afternoon.

Highs today should range from 64 to 67 for the coast and inland valleys. On Wednesday, highs should fall between 66 and 69 degrees. Lows on both days should be in the mid to upper 50s.

For Thanksgiving, highs should be in the mid 60s, with lows in the mid 50s.

Monday’s rain--2.04 inches from midnight to 8 p.m.--created obstacles for many county motorists. Roads were closed in Lakeside, Mission Valley, Rancho Santa Fe, Spring Valley and Bonita, according to Laura Tamayo of the county disaster preparedness office.

In the northeastern section of the county, Montezuma Valley Road was closed at the Borrego turnoff after flooding and “excessive rock slides made the road hazardous on blind curves,” Tamayo said.

Several vehicles whose drivers ignored San Diego police barricades at Mission Center Road and Camino de la Reina wound up stuck in the swift-moving runoff current that moved across the flooded roadway, according to Bill Robinson, police spokesman.

“We put those barricades up for a reason,” Robinson said. “People were trying to shortcut traffic and got stuck.”

He added that motorists were cited for avoiding the barricades and had fines ranging as high as $150, not to mention towing fees, awaiting them.

California Highway Patrol Officer Lee Hodges said Monday’s storm caused several minor accidents throughout the county, including an overturned tanker that authorities initially feared was carrying a highly explosive aviation fuel.

The rig, which overturned about 3 a.m. Monday after the driver lost control and the tanker hit the center divider on rain-slick Interstate 805 near Governor Drive, was returning from a delivery with its tanks empty, according to Mel Young, San Diego Fire Department spokesman. About 30 gallons of diesel fuel spilled from the rig’s saddle tanks, Young said.

Shigehara said slick streets should be gone and the weather fine for driving through Friday.

Hodges said San Diegans are not accustomed to driving on wet roadways and tend to drive too fast. He said that, even when it is not raining, the puddles left from storms can create hazards for drivers and keep roads slippery.

Hodges suggested that motorists adjust their speed to visibility conditions and “definitely change their habits”--that is, slow down--under rainy conditions.

If the roads remain wet over the holiday, Hodges said, drunk drivers will be at an increased risk on the slick streets.

“Drunken drivers remain to be our No. 1 problem during the holidays,” Hodges said. “On a wet road with a driver who hasn’t been drinking, he needs all of his perception to react to the different situations.” A drunk driver may be slow to react to the hazards caused by slippery roadways, he added.

SAN DIEGO RAINFALL (As of 4 p.m. at Lindbergh Field)

Rainfall past 24 hours (inches) 2.04 Total rainfall this month 4.02 Total rainfall since July 1 4.51 Total for this date last year 2.91 Normal rainfall to this date 1.50