The tail of a Pacific storm that drenched Los Angeles overnight will spread across most of San Diego County by noon Tuesday, packing strong winds and significant rain that could make a hash of evening rush hour, the National Weather Service says.
Forecasters say the wind will gust 25 mph to 35 mph from the coast to the mountains, and brief periods of lightning are possible at Camp Pendleton. Motorists will encounter even stronger gusts on Interstate 8, east of Alpine, especially on the downslopes into Imperial County.
The public can see where storm cells are heading by calling up the weather service’s radar page.
The storm is arriving a bit later than anticipated but is still expected to come ashore in North County, then spread south and east before the system rambles toward the desert Tuesday night. Areas such as Oceanside and San Marcos could get 0.50 inches to 1 inch of rain, while South County are expected to get 0.25 inches to 0.50 inches.
The storm is expected to reach its peak in heavily populated South County from roughly 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Most of the moisture will be gone by early Wednesday, when the weather turns warmer.
Note to readers: If you witness wild weather on Tuesday, please send a message to gary.robbins@sduniontribune.com.