Downed Power Pole Closes Part of Wildcat Canyon Road Wednesday; Storm Increases Accidents Across Region

Both lanes of Wildcat Canyon Road were closed south of Barona Casino after a motorist struck a power pole and the pole fell across the road Wednesday night, California Highway Patrol reported. The accident happened shortly before 7 p.m. during a night of intense rain in San Diego county. Wildcat Canyon Road was closed from the casino to Willow Road in Lakeside.

SDG&E confirmed Thursday that a crew worked through the night on the pole and that work was completed by 7 a.m. Thursday.

It was one of many accidents around the county Wednesday.

On an average day with good weather, there are usually 50 to 75 crashes on freeways and unincorporated streets in San Diego county in a 24-hour period, according to the CHP. However, on Wednesday, CHP reported 118 traffic accidents in the 20 hours from midnight to 8 p.m.

The second and stronger of two storms to hit San Diego county this week doused the region. The unsettled system out of the Gulf of Alaska began letting loose with showers in the northern reaches of the county in the late morning, according to the National Weather Service, then it moved southward.

Some backcountry areas received substantially more precipitation than the coast and inland valleys as the storm picked up steam, the Weather Service reported. Over a six-hour period ending at 5 p.m., the clouds dropped 0.83 of an inch at Palomar Observatory; 0.35 in Julian; 0.27 at Lake Henshaw; 0.26 in Santa Ysabel; 0.2 at Cuyamaca Reservoir; 0.19 in Descanso; and 0.16 at Wohlford Dam.

The heaviest downpours were expected to soak the region later Wednesday evening, accompanied by a high-wind advisory set to remain in effect through 11 p.m., said meteorologist Brandt Maxwell.

Although the possibility of snow was earlier in the week included in the forecast for the highest elevations in San Diego county Wednesday night, it was no longer considered likely. A winter weather advisory, however, was in effect for San Bernardino and Riverside county mountains, with snow possible down to 6,000 feet by Thursday morning, according to the Weather Service.

Showers in San Diego county should start weakening early Thursday morning, becoming light and scattered by afternoon or evening, forecasters predicted.

The storm will likely leave behind rain totals of one-quarter to one-half an inch along the coast and in the inland valleys, and 1.5 to 2 inches in mountain locales, according to Maxwell.

Following a partly cloudy morning Friday, sunny, dry and warmer conditions are due to settle in across the region, making for a pleasantly temperate weekend, according to the Weather Service.

—City News Service contributed to this report.