An unseasonably strong spring storm hit San Diego on Sunday, postponing a Padres game for only the third time in the history of Petco Park, setting a number of rainfall records and dusting local mountain peaks with snow.

The system moved ashore late Saturday. By 7 p.m. Sunday, more than 2 inches of rain had fallen in Fallbrook while Valley Center got 1.56 inches and Kearny Mesa got 1.18 inches.

The National Weather Service said that 10 inches of snow had fallen on Palomar Mountain, and about an inch in Julian. The Palomar reading broke the snow record for May 7 by 7 1/2 inches. The previous record was set in 1964.

San Diego had recorded 0.65 inches of an inch of rain by 7 p.m., breaking the May 7 record of 0.32 set in 1971.


“This is basically a winter storm that happens to be occurring in May,” said James Brotherton, a weather service forecaster.

“There’s snow in the mountains, rain everywhere else, and cold air.”

The daytime high temperature only reached 59 degrees Sunday in San Diego — almost 10 degrees below its seasonal average. It was the coldest May day in 64 years, according to the National Weather Service. The high hasn’t been below 60 in May since May 15, 1953, when it was 58.

Last week, the region was in the middle of a warm spell.


San Diegans made their way to Mount Laguna after a snow fall on Sunday. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Sunday’s storm was still packing plenty of energy late in the afternoon, and was expected to last until about midnight. Monday will be mostly dry, but showers could return on Tuesday, forecasters said.

The storm follows a wetter-than-average winter and should push fire season back further into the year, forecasters say.

The system formed off the Pacific Northwest and slid down the California coast, bringing significant rain to Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties before slumping into the San Diego area. Those counties also reported lightning.


The Padres had been scheduled to play the Los Angeles Dodgers at 1:40 p.m. but the team postponed the game until Sept. 2 because of the weather and the possibility that lightning would develop.

The Padres had not postponed a game at Petco since July 19, 2015 — or 134 games ago, the team said in a statement.

The storm varied greatly in intensity, with the heaviest precipitation occurring across inland valleys and foothills, with lesser amounts at and near the coast.

San Diego International Airport reported 0.52 inches of rain through 4 p.m. Sunday. The airport only averages 0.12 inches for the entire month of May.


OTHER RAIN RECORDS FOR MAY 7:

The 0.98 of an inch of rain that fell in Alpine broke the record set there on that date in 2013. The previous record was 0.31.

El Cajon recorded 0.90 of an inch, breaking its previous record of 0.23 of an inch set in 2013.

Vista got 0.84 of an inch of rain, breaking its record of 0.40 of an inch set in 2013.


Chula Vista got 0.84 of an inch, breaking its record of 0.34 of an inch set in 2013.

Escondido received 0.83 of an inch, breaking its record of 0.78 of an inch set in 1912.

Palomar Mountain got 0.63 of an inch of rain, breaking its record by 0.01, which was set in 1964.

And Campo got 0.63 of an inch of rain, breaking its record of 0.22 of an inch, set in 1948.


RAINFALL TOTALS

Sample of rainfall during 48-hour period ending 7 p.m. Sunday: Mesa Grande (near Santa Ysabel), 2.62 inches; Mount Woodson, 2.26 inches; Pine Hills (near Julian), 2.15 inches; Descanso, 1.97 inches; Poway, 1.27 inches; Valley Center, 1.56 inches; Rancho Bernardo, 1.24 inches; Kearny Mesa, 1.18 inches; Alpine, 1.24.inches; Ramona, 1.02 inches; Escondido, 1.20 inches; La Mesa, 1.15 inches; Santee, 1.01 inches.

Rain soaked much of La Jolla, Del Mar and the Sorrento Valley on Sunday morning. (NWS)


Twitter: @grobbins

gary.robbins@sduniontribune.com


UPDATES:

Padres game today has been postponed until September due to unstable weather.