I spent a brief amount of time down in San Diego in the days leading up to Christmas. The timing of my visit coincided with the end of a very strong “pineapple express” storm system. The Palomar Mountains in northern San Diego County received over 18” of rain during the past 7 days and many areas around San Diego received 4 – 6″ of rain over the last 7 days. Not surprisingly, flash flooding as well as urban flooding ensued. I found myself down at the Fashion Valley mall which is situated parallel to the San Diego River.
Most of the year, the river is more like a modest creek but it comes an angry torrent when heavy rains visit the region. The surface streets that cross the river always flood. In fact, the roads have been redesigned much like some high mountain roads where the road surface is solid concrete so that the flood waters just flow over the road without damaging it. I’ve seen the flooding many times since I grew up in San Diego but I’ve never seen it as severe as this time.
For those who know San Diego, this photo shows a big headache for people. This pool of water is blocking the westbound lanes of Friars Road just west of the 163 freeway and just prior to one of the entrances to the Fashion Valley mall. Interestingly enough, it was relatively easy to access the area of active flooding. The parking garages adjacent to the San Diego River were open except for the bottom level which was completely flooded.
The river crested at 14 feet (about 3 feet over flood stage) just an hour or two before my visit. The water was moving pretty fast & furious. Actually, these photos are from my RETURN visit. I first showed up with only the camera in my iPhone. It was too good to pass up so I raced back to my parents house to get my point & shoot. Upon my return, I could see that the waters had slightly receded but were still running pretty good. Even better, the sun came out treating me to a double rainbow and some beautiful sunset light. No matter how much we try, mother nature always wins!…
