SAN DIEGO – San Diego, California, renowned for its mild, sunny weather, was mopping up on Jan 23 after the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in the city in the month of January, a deluge that washed away parked cars, flooded homes and closed a stretch of highway.

Rain pounded San Diego at 1.3cm per hour on Jan 22 as firefighters and lifeguards worked to rescue dozens of people from flash floods in a city often touted as having the most pleasant weather in the United States.

Mr Daniel Campos, the supervisor of Spill the Beans Coffee and Bagels in San Diego, said on Jan 23 that the sky “just dumped rain” starting at midday on Jan 22, flooding the carpark and forcing the shop to close early.

“Water was bubbling up from manhole covers; it was crazy,” he said.

In a city where it is common to see frisbees tossed for fun, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department posted a video on the X social media platform of a rescue team captain hurling a disc on a rope to a man clinging to a raft in a powerful current.

The man was saved by the “solid throw of the save-a-life disc”, the post said. “Nice work gentlemen!”

According to Fox Weather, terrified home owners had to wade through waist-deep water to escape their homes in some parts of San Diego.

The channel posted a video taken by resident Hugo Pacheco of himself and a woman struggling to reach higher ground.

“The house I’ve lived in all my life just flooded,” Mr Pacheco said. “Scariest moment of my life.”

One elementary school reported that 7.6cm of floodwater had accumulated in its classrooms.

The mayor of San Diego, California’s second-largest city by population, declared a state of emergency around 5pm on Jan 22, urging residents to stay home and never travel on flooded roads.

Mr David Roth, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Centre in College Park, Maryland, said that the storm drew moisture from the Pacific Ocean and dumped 6.9cm of rain at San Diego’s airport, cutting off traffic to the facility, before heading to Northern California.

Mr Roth said the rainfall, which produced the city’s fourth-wettest day on record – not far behind the all-time record of 8.5cm in 1854 – was “very unique”.

“They should be getting some rain this time of year, but not like this,” he said.

Daily rainfall during the city’s wet season from December through March averages just 0.8mm, and average annual rainfall is about 25.4cm, according to Mr Roth.

San Diego residents can start drying out on Jan 23, as no more rain is in sight, he said. REUTERS