Rainy weather returns

Alicia Robinson

More rain was predicted to moisten Orange County beginning Tuesday

night and tapering off late this afternoon or this evening.

The latest storm was expected to drop about half an inch to an

inch of rain on Newport-Mesa with another rainstorm likely to hit the

area Friday, said Stan Wasowski, a forecaster with the National

Weather Service in San Diego.

The area has largely recovered from its recent drenching, and

because the ground has dried out a little, no major problems are

anticipated from upcoming storms.

“We’re not expecting too much in the way of excessive water

standing in the roadways,” Wasowski said. “It will help recharge some

of the groundwater throughout the area and the reservoirs are filling

up.”

In Costa Mesa, city workers have been cleaning storm-drain catch

basins to prevent flooding from future rains, city engineer Ernesto

Munoz said.

“In the previous storms, we fortunately did not experience any

heavy damage or eroded roadways,” he said.

“We fully recovered from what has occurred in the past, and we’re

ready to see the next storms come through.”

Sandbags are available for residents at the Placentia fire

station, and city crews carry barricades in case any road lanes are

flooded and need to be closed. Residents should remember to shut off

automatic lawn sprinklers, Munoz said.

Previous rains caused a few minor slope failures in the Spy Glass

Hill area, but otherwise, Newport Beach is in good shape, city Public

Works Director Steve Badum said.

Because groundwater levels are so high, he said, “we’re getting a

lot of folks calling and saying ‘Hey, there’s water oozing out of the

sidewalk, or there’s water oozing out of my front yard.’”

Newport also cleans its catch basins before major storms, and a

few areas in Buck Gully and Morning Canyon are being monitored for

erosion.

Rain levels for the past six months are significantly higher than

the same period the previous year. In January 2005 alone, 5.78 inches

of rain have fallen, compared with a 30-year average rainfall for

this period of 2.13 inches, Wasowski said.

More precipitation could mean more rain advisories from the Orange

County Health Care Agency, which posted advisories not to swim at the

county’s beaches from Dec. 28 to Jan. 18 because of previous storms.