Late winter storm causes record cold in Greater San Diego

A Pacific winter storm produced record cold in the San Diego metropolitan area on Monday, in addition to causing significant rains in some areas, light snow in the mountains and strong winds, according to the National Weather Service.

Four communities experienced the so-called record low maximum temperatures for March 15.

The biggest change occurred in Alpine, where the temperature barely rose to 53, which is three degrees cooler than the record set for the date in 1951.

At Vista it was 54, beating the record of 56, set in 1957. In Escondido it was 55, beating the record of 56, set in 1893. And it was 51 at Ramona, beating the record of 52, set in 1974.

The low temperatures were due to strong winds sweeping through very cold coastal waters as the storm washed ashore, the weather service said. The sea surface temperature in recent days has been in the range of 57 to 58 degrees.

“That will keep things fresh” on Tuesday, said Mark Moede, a forecaster with the weather service.

San Diego is expected to hit just 58 degrees on Tuesday. The seasonal high is 65.

Winds reached 34 mph at Mission Beach. But the strongest gusts went further inland. The weather service says winds reached 69 mph at Mount Laguna, 60 mph at Volcano Mountain, 55 mph at Palomar Mountain, 45 mph at Julian, 43 mph at Boulevard, and 37 mph at Lake Cuyamaca.

As of 6 pm Monday, the weather service reported the following rainfall totals: Pine Hills, 0.95 inches; Lake Cuyamaca, 0.85 inches; Rest, 0.68 inches; Julian, 0.64 inches; Otay Mountain, 0.46 inches; Alpine, 0.40 inches; Lake Wohlford, 0.30 inches; Santee, 0.23 inches; Fallbrook, 0.21 inches; Oceanside, 0.20 inches; San Diego International Airport, 0.17 inches;

The storm raised the airport’s seasonal rainfall to about 4.30 inches, which is more than four inches below normal. Moede said another storm could hit the county this weekend “but this doesn’t seem like a big drench.”

A third system could arrive next Monday.

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