North San Diego County communities, like much of the region, were soaked Monday, Jan. 22, as a storm dropped historic amounts of rain across the area.
Oceanside Harbor broke a rainfall record as flooding closed sections of North County freeways and stopped up coastal streets.The National Weather Service reported that the storm made Monday the 4th wettest day in San Diego since 1850.
San Diego city and county officials declared states of emergency as flooding inundated communities throughout the region.
The morning’s deluge closed eastbound and westbound lanes State Route 78 between College Boulevard and El Camino Real for a time, according to Caltrans alerts. Social media photos showed flooded roadways. Lanes were reopened by the afternoon.
Residents in communities such as Cardiff and Leucadia reported flooding. The city of Encinitas had to close the intersection of Vulcan Ave and Union Street, the 600 block of Orpheus Avenue at Puebla Street and Hymettus Avenue, and southbound North Coast Highway 101 between Jupiter Street and West Jason Street.
Oceanside Harbor broke a rainfall record with 2.10 inches, replacing a record of .98 inch in 2010, according to the National Weather Service. Ramona also broke a record for Jan. 22 with 1.65 inches, overtaking a record of 1.18 inches in 2017.
The rain, which started with lighter showers over the weekend, was brought in with a storm that was fed by an atmospheric river. Showers continued overnight into early Tuesday morning.
Here are four-day rain totals for key North San Diego County reporting stations from the National Weather Service and other reporting sites as of about 5 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23:
Bonsall: 3.12 inches
Carlsbad: 3.15 inches
Del Mar: 1.55 inches (from localconditions.com)
El Camino Del Norte (Olivenhain): 2.74 inches
Encinitas: 3.10 inches
Escondido: 2.72 inches
Fallbrook: 3.44 inches
McClellan-Palomar Airport (Carlsbad): 3.28 inches
Oceanside: 2.76 inches
Poway: 2.47 inches
Ramona: 2.17 inches
Rancho Bernardo: 2.37 inches
Rancho Santa Fe: 3.091 inches (from localconditions.com)
San Marcos: 2.24 inches
Solana Beach: 3.09 inches (from localconditions.com)
Valley Center: 2.53 inches
Vista: 2.61 inches
View this post on Instagram
WB SR-78, all lanes closed from College Blvd to El Camio Real due to flooding. pic.twitter.com/uCJsB3eR3q
— Caltrans San Diego (@SDCaltrans) January 22, 2024
EB SR-78 at El Camino Real, all lanes closed due to flooding. pic.twitter.com/4I9OMPy8GX
— Caltrans San Diego (@SDCaltrans) January 22, 2024