1 to 3 inches of rain in local forecast

Andrew Edwards

National Weather Service meteorologists predicted that more rain will

douse Newport-Mesa through Thursday, but local officials are not

worried that forecasts herald another major storm.

Preliminary rainfall estimates indicate 1 to 3 more inches of rain

will fall around the John Wayne Airport area, forecaster Stan

Wasowski said. The first wave of the rain was expected to be heaviest

Tuesday night and then calm down today.

“It should go into shower mode as we get into Wednesday,” Wasowski

said.

The second wave of rain is expected to fall Thursday, and

forecasters expect moderate rainfall.

“It doesn’t look that important on the satellites right now, but

these things change,” Wasowski said.

So far, the area surrounding the John Wayne Airport has received

11.83 inches of rainfall since the start of 2005, Wasowski said. The

normal amount of rainfall over the same period is 5.96 inches.

The National Weather Service reported that downtown Los Angeles

had enough rainfall since July 1 to record its second-wettest rain

season on record. The city surpassed the 115-year-old record of 34.85

inches of rain at about 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Since the start of the rain season, which runs from July 1 to June

30 of the next year, 21.15 inches of rain have fallen around John

Wayne Airport, Wasowski said. The weather service does not rank

Orange County’s wettest rain seasons.

In Newport Beach, officials are not worried “as long we don’t get

the long downpours for half-hour periods,” deputy general services

director Mike Pisani said. “We don’t anticipate that happening.”

Newport employees will monitor Back Bay Drive but won’t do

anything special, Pisani said. Rain and high tides drenched Back Bay

Drive in January.

Though torrents are not anticipated, Costa Mesa officials will

keep an eye on what city public services director Bill Morris called

“two of our favorite areas,” the oft-flooded intersections of 19th

Street at Anaheim and Park avenues, where storm drain repairs are

“not going to be done for a couple of weeks.”

Costa Mesa employees will also watch Canyon Park, the site of some

minor landslides, Morris said.

Government officials estimate the winter storms have caused

millions of dollars of damage in Orange County. Preliminary damage

estimates show the Dec. 27 to Jan 11 storms will cost a combined

$26.1 million to Orange County cities, the state, the Federal

Emergency Management Agency and other federal agencies, said Greg

Renick, spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

For the Feb. 12 to 24 storms, that figure is $14.9 million in the

county, Renick said.

Last week, FEMA announced that Orange County residents and

business owners could apply for federal aid for damages suffered

between Dec. 27 and Jan. 11.

The hotline for aid applications is (800) 621-3362.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at andrew.edwards

@latimes.com.