NORTH COUNTY -- Two people died in traffic crashes on rain-slicked roadways in north San Diego County the last two days before a lingering storm moved on.

The fatalities included a Camp Pendleton Marine sergeant and an Oceanside man, authorities said. The names of the victims weren't available, pending notification of families.

While investigators gathered information on those crashes, the National Weather Service was predicting lots of sunshine starting this weekend before another possible storm late next week.

"There's a teeny-tiny chance of rain (this morning)," said Miguel Miller, a National Weather Service forecaster. "In layman's terms, this storm is over."

A high surf advisory that started at 2 a.m. today will continue until 2 a.m. Saturday. Miller said that a "monster ridge" of high pressure will mean mostly sunny, warmer days into the middle of next week.

The scattered rainfall from the storm that started Monday didn't do much to whittle the county's seasonal rain deficit, said forecaster Stan Wasowski.

"We're still under 50 percent of normal," Wasowski said.

Based on 30-year readings at Lindbergh Field in San Diego, the normal rainfall since July 1 was 5.36 inches as January ended, forecasters said.

By 5 p.m. Wednesday, Lindbergh Field's seasonal total was 2.15 inches, according to the weather service.

Countywide, Vista's rainfall total from the spotty storm topped the agency's readings at 1.80 inches.

Elsewhere in North County, Escondido picked up 1.28 inches the first two days; Oceanside Airport, 0.99; Encinitas, 0.39; Fallbrook, 0.85; Ramona, 0.51, and Palomar Mountain, 0.14.

As usual, when the rain comes down, traffic crashes in the county go up.

California Highway Patrol officers reported 206 crashes Tuesday on highways and streets in the unincorporated areas. On a day of good weather, they handle 50 to 75.

Officer Tom Kerns, California Highway Patrol spokesman, said that the Marine died Tuesday night when his Pontiac Grand Prix crashed on southbound Interstate 15, south of Rainbow.

"The rain had stopped, but the roadway was still wet," Kerns said.

Witnesses told investigators that the Grand Prix was traveling at a high rate of speed before it slammed into the center divider at 5:45 p.m., shot back across lanes and overturned south of Old Highway 395, the officer said.

Kerns said the Marine wasn't wearing a seat belt and he was partially ejected, dying instantly.

A Chevrolet van that struck the Grand Prix and a Honda that swerved to avoid the crash went up an embankment. Kerns said those drivers weren't hurt.

A little over five hours later, Kerns said, the Oceanside man suffered fatal head injuries when he lost control of his Toyota Tercel on wet westbound Highway 78 in Oceanside.

Neither the driver, about 35, nor a passenger, Eduardo Cruz Ortega, 22, also of Oceanside, wore seat belts, Kerns said.

The Toyota spun off the road about 11 p.m., smashing into a Nissan Sentra parked on the shoulder east of El Camino Real, said the officer. He said the Sentra was in an earlier noninjury crash and the occupants were waiting for a tow truck.

Ortega suffered major head injury and was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla, Kerns said.

He said the people in the Nissan, David A. and Sheena Collum, both 22-year-old Oceanside residents, were taken to Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside for treatment of minor to significant injuries.

A dog wearing a seat belt in the back of the Nissan suffered two broken legs and had to be freed from the wreckage, Kerns said.

- Contact staff writer Jo Moreland at (760) 740-3524 or jmoreland@nctimes.com.