Rain forecast for Sunday

A strong Pacific storm will bring rain and a possibility of thunderstorms to San Diego County this weekend but probably not until Sunday afternoon, forecasters said Friday.

The storm was centered about 650 miles west of Portland, Ore., early Friday morning and expected to move through southwestern California starting Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

“The main band of precipitation is expected to move into Orange County and far southwestern San Bernardino County by late Sunday morning, spreading south and east into Riverside and San Diego counties Sunday afternoon through Sunday evening,” according to an NWS advisory. “Widespread rain will turn to showers Sunday night and linger into Monday.”

Temperatures this weekend are not expected to drop as low as they did during last weekend’s storm, when the local snow level dropped to just below 3,000 feet. According to the Weather Service, San Diego County’s snow level will start out at around 7,000 feet Sunday and drop to 5,000 feet by Sunday night.

Atop the county’s highest peaks, one to four inches of snow is possible this weekend, forecasters said.

Local wind gusts of 45 to 55 miles per hour are also possible in the mountains and deserts, mainly on Sunday, and there’s a slight chance of thunderstorms Sunday afternoon and evening as cold air aloft moves over the area, according to the the NWS.

Between 0.3 and 0.75 inches of rain was expected in coastal and valley areas and between 0.75 and 1.25 inches in the mountains, NWS forecasters said.

Less than 0.2 inches of rain is expected in the deserts.