WET AND WILD HOLIDAY WEATHER

December 2021 Articles

By Miriam Raftery

December 21, 2021 (San Diego) – If you’re traveling this week, be sure to allow extra time and drive with caution. Heavy rain is forecast for Thursday night and Friday, Christmas Eve, the National Weather Service predicts. Cool weather and lighter showers are expected to continue through the holiday weekend into next week.

Thursday and Friday, flash flooding is possible at low water crossings, in normally dry washes, flood channels, and wildfire burned areas. Wind gusts could reach 75 miles per hour on ridges and desert slopes Friday, with strong southwest winds.

Up to five inches of rain could fall in mountains and on coastal slopes, with up to two inches in valleys and coastal cities, and as much as an inch in the deserts.

Snow is forecast down to 5000 feet by Friday, which could bring a white Christmas to Palomar Mountain and Mount Laguna locally as well as ski areas such as at Big Bear in San Bernadino County. Up to ten inches could fall at 7,000 feet elevation, with up to five inches at 6,000 feet and snow showers brining two inches or less at 5000 feet.

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