Forecast Calls for a Christmas with Clear Skies

San Diego County will have a brief break from the rain, with sunny skies in the forecast for Christmas Day. The recent showers dropped measurable rainfall in the region Monday and more moisture could roll through beginning late Tuesday night.

However wet it may seem now, it’s nothing compared with what the West Coast went through way back in 1861, when it began to rain on Christmas Eve and continued to pour for 30 straight days.

The Noachian Deluge of California killed 20 people in Orange County and dropped 35 inches of rain in Los Angeles by the time it ended on Jan. 23, 1862. San Diego recorded seven inches of rain in January that year.

The San Diego River carved a new channel into San Diego Bay, Mission Valley was completely under water and Old Town was evacuated in what the National Weather Service calls the worst flooding to date in San Diego County.  

That kind of weather chaos is not currently in the cards, according to the NWS forecast for San Diego:

Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 49. East wind around 5 mph.

Christmas Day: Mostly sunny, with a high near 63. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Tuesday night: A 30 percent chance of rain after 4am. Increasing clouds, with a low around 49. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph.

Wednesday: Showers likely, mainly between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Cloudy, with a high near 60. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.

Wednesday night: A 30 percent chance of showers before 10 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 48. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.