Authorities on both sides of the border prepared for the heavy rain predicted to lash the region through Thursday.
In Tijuana, Mayor Carlos Bustamante announced that city workers had cleaned storm drains and channels and opened temporary shelters for families who may be displaced.
North of the border, the National Weather Service issued a flood watch for all of San Diego County.
Bustamante met with the city's Civil Protection agency to review contingency plans for the storm, which is expected to dump two to four inches of rain, over the next 72 hours.
"We will redouble our work to clean up the drainage system to prevent damage to roads and the population," the mayor said in a statement.
The director of Civil Protection, Antonio Rosquillas, said that his department had notified 3,000 families living in areas of potential risk to be ready to evacuate.
And he said that temporary shelters had been set up in all of the city's 11 districts. The department urged residents to take the following preventive measures:
Be prepared to evacuate their homes rapidly.
Avoid driving in areas under water, through currents of water or through streams. Two Tijuana children were swept away in their car during a storm last January and drowned.
Periodically evaluate the foundation, walls and roof of their homes.
Follow storm conditions closely through news reports.
The storm is moving south from Orange County and Los Angeles. Forecasters warned that rain could fall in certain areas a rate greater than one inch per hour, especially in the mountains.
They warned that flooding was likely along most streams and rivers, and along low-lying areas adjacent to major rivers. And that some areas faced the possibility of landslide and debris flow of mud.
Micaela Arroyo contributed to this story
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