‘Bomb cyclone’ heading for California: Will it hit San Diego?

(NEXSTAR) – A “bomb cyclone” riding a long atmospheric river toward the West Coast is expected to bring more than a foot of rain to parts of Northern California and 30-foot waves to the Oregon coast, but the weather will be quite different in San Diego.

Right now, the “bomb cyclone” (a rapidly intensified storm system) is poised to hit the northern half of the Golden State starting Wednesday morning. The rain is being carried toward the California coast by an atmospheric river, which is essentially a long plume of moisture in the sky.

Atmospheric rivers can bring lots of rain to Southern California, but this one looks like it will stall out up north. That’s what makes it is such a flooding threat up there — and why San Diego will largely be spared.

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“The remnants of this are going to be passing through San Diego, but it’s going to be losing basically all of its energy as it runs south down the coast,” explained Chandler Price, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s San Diego office.

San Diego is still likely to see “moderate rainfall,” which could start as early as Saturday but becomes more probable Sunday and Monday.

“At the moment, we’re really not looking at anything over a quarter of an inch except over the mountains, where we’re looking at maybe three quarters,” Price said.

This satellite image taken, Nov. 19, 2024, and provided by NOAA, shows weather gathering in northern California and the Pacific Northwest. (NOAA via AP)

The surf in San Diego also is also not expected to be anywhere near as dramatic as the Oregon coast, where a high surf warning predicts breaking waves between 25 and 30 feet.

“At the moment – this could change – we’re looking at 3 to 5 feet here,” said Price.

It is too soon to say what comes next week, over the Thanksgiving holiday, but another atmospheric river may be on the way, said FOX 5 meteorologist Megan Healy when looking at the long-range forecast on Monday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.

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