Storm swings down from cold north

Marisa O’Neil

Mother Nature is set to sock it to Southern California again, with

another cold, wet storm.

Today’s storm is expected to be almost as big as last week’s

soaker, which dumped more than 3 inches on John Wayne Airport,

according to the National Weather Service. A gale warning is in

effect until 10 a.m. today and rain is expected to continue through

this evening. Between 1 and 2 inches of rain are expected today, said

Noel Isla, a forecaster for the National Weather Service.

“We’re watching the storm very closely on the radar,” said Dave

Niederhaus, general services director for the city of Newport Beach.

The city weathered last week’s storm pretty well with no major

damage, Niederhaus said. There was a hill slide in Spyglass Hill, he

said, but workers were covering it up as today’s storm approached.

Minor flooding hit Newport Beach last week, Niederhaus said.

Most of the street flooding was in construction areas, where

workers covered up drainage holes to prevent mud from getting into

the drains, he said. This time, city officials asked workers to

remove the covers before the rain came.

Today’s storm swung south from the Gulf of Alaska, bringing cold

weather and rain, according to the National Weather Service. Snow is

expected in higher elevations, above 5,000 feet.

A flood watch will be in effect until 2 a.m. Thursday for Orange

County Coastal areas. A gale warning prompted the Sheriff’s

Department Harbor Patrol in Newport Beach to put an extra fireboat on

duty overnight, dispatcher Tina Maguire said.

Newport Beach has filled sandbags ready for an emergency and empty

sandbags available for residents. People can take up to 10 sandbags

to fill -- and empty, at the end of the season -- at the beach,

Niederhaus said.

Since Newport-Mesa made it through the last storm, Niederhaus

isn’t expecting any major catastrophes this time.

“That was a pretty terrible storm,” he said. “If nothing happened

at that point, we’re not likely to have any more problems this year.”

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at [email protected].