San Diego officials warned Tuesday, Aug. 18, that a developing El Niño could deliver the region's heaviest winter storms in years, urging residents to learn their flood risk and build emergency kits before the rains arrive.
The warning carries particular weight in La Jolla. On March 6, 2025, San Diego Fire-Rescue crews rescued four people from submerged cars on La Jolla Village Drive after heavy rain turned the road into a temporary lake. SDFD said in a post on X that night that swift water teams were deployed across the city.
That kind of flooding could happen again, and worse. NOAA has issued an advisory that equatorial Pacific ocean temperatures are now 2.0°C above average, with a greater than 90% chance of a very strong El Niño event this fall and winter, according to a Scripps Institution of Oceanography explainer published Aug. 18.
"Forecast models are in strong agreement that there will be a moderate-to-large El Niño event in 2026-27, with some of them predicting the largest ever seen in the historical record of the past 150 years," said Art Miller, a research oceanographer at Scripps.
The data are already showing up locally. As of Sunday, Aug. 16, Scripps' Shore Stations Program had measured 42 days in 2026 with record-high ocean temperatures at the Scripps Pier station in La Jolla.
City launches preparedness campaign
Mayor Todd Gloria, Fire Chief Robert Logan and assistant fire chief Rob Rezende held an 8 a.m. news conference at Balboa Park on Aug. 18 to announce the city's El Niño preparation campaign, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. City Council President Joe LaCava and Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera also attended.
The city faces a $5 billion backlog in stormwater infrastructure. The council allocated approximately $1.9 million in channel-clearing funds for fiscal year 2027, though those were restored dollars, not new money.
"At the end of the day, would I like more resources for stormwater? Yeah, I'd like more resources for stormwater, for road repair," Gloria told NBC San Diego. "But those simply are not in this environment where we see our electric bill going up, our water bill going up, our gas bill going up."
The city's Stormwater Department maintained more than 11 miles of channels in fiscal year 2026 and plans to clear more than 20 miles in fiscal year 2027, which began in July. The city will also notify approximately 180 property owners of their responsibilities for maintaining privately owned stormwater channels.
Over the next month, the city plans to mail information to more than 7,000 properties in high-risk flood areas. Citywide, 15,000 acres and more than 6,900 structures sit in FEMA-designated flood hazard areas, though officials stress flooding can occur outside those zones.
What residents should do now
The city launched a dedicated El Niño preparedness website at sandiego.gov/elnino with a checklist that includes:
- Create an emergency plan with family members and know evacuation routes
- Build a three-day emergency kit with water, food, batteries, flashlights, medications and important documents in a waterproof container
- Sign up for emergency alerts at AlertSanDiego.org
- Never drive or walk through flooded streets
San Diego participates in the National Flood Insurance Program, which gives eligible property owners and renters a 15% discount on flood insurance premiums.
Scripps research economist Tom Corringham found that flood damages in Southern California were 10 times greater in El Niño winters than in La Niña winters over the 40-year period from 1978 to 2017.
The City Council's Environment Committee is scheduled to discuss El Niño preparations at 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20.
