Rain that snarled San Diego's major freeways Wednesday makes way for dry weekend

Showers moved in on Wednesday morning thanks to a low-pressure system that is also bringing chances of thunderstorms and gusty winds, as well as causing a pair of big rig crashes that snarled major freeways.

Crashes caused by rain

Rain was widespread during Wednesday’s morning commute, causing spinouts and traffic crashes across the county. Near Oceanside, a semi-truck crash forced a temporary closure of the northbound Interstate 5.

The Oceanside Fire Department said once they arrived at the scene, they found a portion of the semi-truck hanging over the side of the bridge approximately 70 feet above ground. Crews were able to safely remove the driver from the cab. The driver did not suffer any injuries, fire officials said.

“There are a lot of accidents in North County because we’ve had so much rain already, that’s moved through, so the roads are wet,” NBC 7 Meteorologist Sheena Parveen said. “Either way, this is falling at a bad time of the day because it’s right during the morning commute.”

At around noon, a semi-truck crashed on the northbound Interstate 15 just south of Interstate 8, causing all lanes to be closed for an unknown amount of time. All traffic was being diverted to Interstate 8.

Hours later, the freeway remained closed while emergency crews dealt with a diesel-fuel leak from the banged-up big rig. Traffic was diverted onto I-8 as crews cleaned up the spill.

Update: All northbound lanes are blocked due to a traffic collision. Traffic is being diverted to I-8. https://t.co/bXZSDDf8xJ— Caltrans District 11 (@SDCaltrans) February 11, 2026

A power outage was reported at around 6 a.m. in Vista, affecting 1,284 households, after a tree had come into contact with an electrical system. SDG&E has since restored power.

Rain totals were light on Wednesday for the majority of the county, with the exception being parts of North County. Some areas in Oceanside and Carlsbad got more than 0.50 inch, while the rest of the county received between 0.10 inch and 0.25 inch.

Roads remained wet through the Wednesday evening commute. Onshore winds weakened as well.

Thursday’s weather

Thursday looks drier, but still relatively cool with temperatures in the 60s. We should stay dry through at least Saturday, but rain chances return early next week when a colder, and potentially wetter system moves in. Right now, there are slight shower chances for Sunday, but much better chances starting Monday through mid week.

Next week’s storm system looks cooler, with more rain for Southern California possible and a chance of wintry weather in our mountains.