SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — A chilly spring storm that has soaked the San Diego area with lots of rain and frosted its highland peaks with ice and snow since last weekend turned up the dial on the downpours Friday prior to its expected departure from the region tonight.
Over a 20-hour period ending at midday, the wintry atmospheric system dropped an additional two to three inches of moisture in parts of the already saturated county, including Carlsbad, Escondido and San Marcos, according to the National Weather Service.
Rainy weather conditions and flooding throughout San Diego County made for hazardous road conditions on Friday.
From North County to the South Bay, rain, flooding, water rescues, crashes, and even a fatal crash kept rescue crews busy. In Oceanside, crews were on scene of a mudslide at Via Robles.
There were also reports of cars in the water at Skylark Drive.
At Harmony Grove in San Marcos, five people and their dogs were stuck near the river by rising water.
Highway 78 at El Camino Real was closed in both directions due to water rescues and flooding near the animal hospital. Those animals were relocated.
At Carmel Canyon Road between Del Mar Heights and Carmel Knolls, a man died after losing control of his vehicle and hitting a tree, splitting the vehicle in half. Police said the man was driving his 15-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son. They were transported to a nearby hospital and suffered injuries. The driver had major head injuries and was pronounced dead on scene.
Police urged drivers to avoid the flooded Fashion Valley River area.
San Diego Fire- Rescue was on scene of a water rescue near SDCCU stadium. A woman was airlifted from the San Diego River. Her two dogs were also rescued.
In South Bay, Caltrans closed the northbound ramp to Interstate 805 at Bonita Road and E Street in Chula Vista due to flooding.
Police urged people to avoid driving if at all possible on Friday.
The persistent heavy showers led over the morning and afternoon to submerged and debris-blocked roadways in numerous communities.
Amid the intense cloudbursts, emergency crews had to rescue people in several locales, including the 1000 block of North Avenue in Deer Springs, where a car got stuck on the flooded roadway; an inundated motel in the 2400 block of Hotel Circle Place in Mission Valley; and in the 9400 block of Friars Road in Mission Valley, where a woman and her two dogs got stranded by floodwaters near a field once used for practice by the San Diego Chargers.
By late afternoon, the slow-moving weeklong storm had doused most parts of the county with at least several inches of rain or snow, and some with well over six inches' worth, according to meteorologists.
Five-day rain tallies as of 3:30 p.m. included: 8.35 inches in the Palomar area; 7.63 in Deer Springs; 7.12 in Lower Oat Flats; 7.01 in Horsethief Canyon; 6.8 in Couser Canyon; 6.27 in Valley Center; 6.26 in Bonsall; 6.14 in Carlsbad; 6.1 in Skyline Ranch; 5.88 in San Marcos; 5.86 in Encinitas; 5.68 at Henshaw Dam and in Oceanside; 5.65 on Mount Woodson; 5.62 in Fallbrook; 5.61 at Miramar Lake; 5.54 on Otay Mountain; 5.38 in Poway; 5.37 at Lake Wohlford; 5.31 in Rincon Springs; 5.28 in Mesa Grande; 5.23 in Escondido; 5.2 in Rancho Bernardo; and 5.17 in Santee.
Among other local rainfall totals since Sunday were 4.57 inches in San Onofre; 4.55 in Mission Valley; 4.52 in La Mesa and Miramar; 4.44 in Kearny Mesa; 4.41 in Fallbrook; 3.53 at Lindbergh Field; 4.05 in Granite Hills; 3.86 in Ramona; 3.83 in Flinn Springs; 3.53 in Serra Mesa; 3.45 in Point Loma; 3.34 in Barona; 3.19 at Dulzura Summit and in San Diego Country Estates; 3.09 in Harbison Canyon; 2.9 in Alpine; 2.64 at Brown Field airport in Otay Mesa; 2.28 in Thousand Trails; 2.2 in Ranchita; 1.68 in Campo; 1.38 in Tierra Del Sol; 1.14 in San Felipe; 0.79 in Borrego Springs; 0.77 in Agua Caliente; and 0.76 in Ocotillo Wells.
In the unseasonably frigid East County highlands, the bands of dark clouds shed snowfalls that built up accumulations of 14 inches on Birch Hill, seven inches on Palomar Mountain and four inches on Mount Laguna, according to the weather service.