Wetter weather headed this direction

Marisa O’Neil

A winter storm expected to hit today could bring heavy rain, coastal

flooding and large surf.

Rain should start falling this morning or afternoon, and

thunderstorms may develop tonight, according to the National Weather

Service. A west swell combined with today’s high tide could flood

some low-lying areas and bring above-average surf, forecasters said.

But don’t wax up those boards just yet.

“It looks like kind of an average winter swell,” said Adam Wright,

forecast manager at Surfline. “It’s not out of control. You could

potentially see some coastal flooding, and there’s a chance for some

fun surf through Blackie’s and the middle streets in Newport. But it

won’t be the storm of the decade.”

Today’s storm is the first of a series that will keep things damp

the next few days. The chance of rain is 70% this afternoon. It will

drop to 20% on Thursday.

The National Weather Service is warning that coastal areas could

flood, but the amount of rain expected today isn’t enough to drown

Newport Beach, said Dave Niederhaus, director of general services for

the city.

“It’s all a case of timing and the amount of water [that falls],”

Niederhaus said. “The storms this week are not the intensity we’re

worried about.”

Newport Beach’s peninsula and islands are prone to flooding during

high tides, Niederhaus said, especially when a great deal of rain

falls in a short period of time, as in El Nino years.

If the forecast called for two inches in two hours-- not the half

an inch to one inch expected today -- that could cause problems.

During the last couple of El Ninos, he said, streets flooded and

water flowed right down 32nd Street and into City Hall.

The city is working on plans to prevent such problems in the

future, he said, but tearing up streets and building the

infrastructure is costly.

In the meantime, the city has pumps they can deploy to flooded

streets if necessary, he said. Even though he doesn’t expect a major

soaker this week, maintenance workers will be watching the storm on

their radar, linked to a receiver on Saddleback Mountain.

Winds during the storm could get up to 15 to 20 miles per hour,

according to the National Weather Service, which may issue a small

craft advisory.

The lows will be in 40s and the highs in the 60s for the rest of

the week. A chance of rain will linger in the forecast through Monday

morning.