NWS says 'dust off your rain dance shoes'
Under the rainbow ... in Ocean Beach. Jim Grant
The normally bland prose of the National Weather Service has been spiced up with some word play that underscores the severity of the region's deepening drought. A forecast issued Sunday says, "It is highly recommended that people dust off their rain dancing shoes and start dancing!"
Lindbergh Field hasn't received any measurable rain this month, and January is typically the second wettest month of the year. It's possible that light rain will fall late Thursday night or early Friday west of the mountains. But it'll probably be just a spritzing for a region that needs a few good "gullywasher" storms.
"Unfortunately, amounts look to remain very light at this time, and may be more marine layer driven than anything else," the weather service says it its forecast.
The county will get a bit drier before next weekend. Monday's daytime high will hit 64 at Lindbergh, one degree below average. But the coastal areas will begin warming up again as a high pressure system forms over the West Coast. The system will erode late in the week, but the region won't experience seasonally cool weather until next weekend. The average monthly temperature this month, to date, is 61.5 degrees, which is 4.6 degrees above normal.
Precipitation update: Since the rainy season began on July 1, San Diego has recorded 2.24'' of rain, which is 2.67'' below average. Ramona has recorded 2.76'', which is 4.85'' below average. The county has now gone about two years with below average rainfall, and it has experienced many stretches of unusually warm weather.
Beach break: Solspot.com says the big swell that's been pounding beaches for the past five days will be followed by a new swell on Monday. Waves will be in the 5' to 8' range in South County, and 3' to 6' in North County. The waves have thinning the top of kelp beds, sending a lot of giant kelp into the shore break.
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360-degree panorama of Scripps Pier
A panoramic view of Scripps Pier. Images taken on Sunday. from Gary on Vimeo.
View the photo gallery: 2013 on the San Diego coast
At the library: 'A Dog's Journey' at National City library on Sunday
Events of note at South, East County libraries
SE Best Bets, Jan. 23
Events of note in South and East County
East County Datebook, Jan. 23: Blood drives, free resume help and more
City council meetings: El Cajon, 200 Civic Center Way, 3 p.m.