San Diego storm: Blizzard warning, heavy rain, gusty winds hit the county

A San Diego is getting ready for the most powerful storm to hit the county in a decade with a combination of heavy rain and snow. A winter storm warning is in effect with flooding, mudslides and heavier snow looming. Meanwhile, plenty of rain and wind made for rough roads as a second wave of rain is expected to come tonight. Meanwhile, Julian has become a winter wonderland with several inches of fresh snow dropped today. But that means that getting up the mountain is becoming increasingly dangerous. Yes, we have team coverage for you tonight. We'll head to Julian in a moment.

First let's check in with CBS 8 meteorologist Sean Stiles for the latest forecast. Sean, it's a busy one. It is definitely gentlemen. We've got ourselves a major winter storm coming down the coastline. We're talking about heavy rain and snow across all of California and the storm is definitely bearing down on Southern California. I mean, look what the national weather service has got issued for us. We're talking about a winter storm warning.

We've got a wind advisory, a gale warning. There's all kinds of things going on here. And to the north of us, a blizzard warning. Not since 1989. That tells you how powerful this storm is. Has a blizzard warning been issued for Southern California. This is for the San Bernardino, San Gabriel and the mountains of Ventura and Santa Barbara, where we could see blizzard like conditions.

Rainfall and snowfall totals across the county today, anywhere from a tenth to over three quarters of an inch of rain and six to eight inches of snow in our local mountains. More on the way as the bulk of this storm. I know it's hard to believe that more is on the way and the most energy is arriving tomorrow afternoon into Saturday. That storm will bring heavy rain and snow above 5,000 feet. We're talking about very cold conditions. Look at the daytime high for the inland microclimates on Saturday. 49 is the daytime high.

So you know the mountains will be very cold anywhere from 5,000 feet and above. We could see two feet of snow. I'll have the complete details on this coming up in just a bit. All right, Sean. Thank you now from rain on the coast to snow in the East County Mountains. CBSH Regina Yorita went to Julian last night and stayed all day. Regina has more from a very snowy scene.

Regina, it has been coming down pretty heavy here in Julian. As you can see, I am covered in snow flurries. This is just the beginning. Every part of this town is covered in white powder. Heavy snow continues here. I want you guys just to take a look at just some of the white slushy that's been covering this place. Now, this is all that fresh powder that's been coming down.

We're seeing several inches of snow that have been compacted here on the ground. Vehicles as well as rooftops here in these antique shops are just covered in white powder. I want to show you video of a parking lot that is covered in powder. This is located near Main Street. We took this earlier today. Every inch of that parking lot is buried underneath that snow. Families actually stopped to take pictures, many taking advantage of the snow.

They tell me it's unbelievable to think that this is still Southern California. It's a blessing that it's just an hour and 30 minutes away and you can just be here and my husband said, okay, don't worry. He's like, if it gets pretty crazy, you are just like out of there like in 15 minutes. So you're good. He's like, go. We heard it from the news that there's going to be a lot of snow falling. So we wanted to go since we were all off and nobody was working.

So we decided to come to the snow back here live. We continue to see steady accumulating snow since this morning with plenty of more snow to come possibly even more feet of snow. As for driving conditions, officials have said that it could be dangerous down on the road. So of course, you need to have your chains on those tires. If you do need to drive, please make sure to pack an extra bag of clothes as well as snacks and bring a flashlight. Reporting in Julian, Regina Yurita, CBS eight. For the latest weather alerts right on your phone, you can download the free CBS eight app in the app store or on Google Play.

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