Rain Heading Out, but Cold Will Linger

It was a wet Christmas for most of San Diego County, and, in some areas, even white.

But the storm that brought the wet weather should be gone by this afternoon, forecasters said. The chilly weather will remain, however, bringing frost to some of the colder areas of the county tonight.

A 30% chance of rain this morning is expected to give way to gusty winds and partly cloudy skies this afternoon, National Weather Service forecaster Harvey Hastrup said. Tuesday should be dry and a little warmer, but another storm system will move in Tuesday night, bringing a chance of showers by midweek, he said.

Icy temperatures over the holiday weekend brought the snow level down to 1,000 feet in some areas, delighting Christmas revelers but making work for the California Highway Patrol. Numerous minor accidents were reported on roads slippery with snow and ice in the northern and eastern parts of the county Sunday, a CHP spokeswoman said.

“It’s slushy,� Rancho Cuyamaca State Park aide Marianne Dubois said. “We haven’t had much snow today, just intermittent rain and melting. . . . The roads are pretty slippery.�

But “it’s pretty and there’s a lot of enthusiasm from the visitors here, even though it’s not the best snow day we’ve had,� she said.

At Lindbergh Field, slightly more than half an inch of rain fell Sunday, bringing the total rainfall for the storm to 3 1/2 inches. The high temperature Sunday was 57 degrees at the airport and is expected to be slightly lower today.