Storms Head To Southwest Riverside County: How Much Rain Will We Get?

TEMECULA, CA — The first significant storm of 2024 is heading into Southwest Riverside County and the Inland Empire through Monday, with over an inch of precipitation possible in some locations.

Several troughs of low pressure will spin across the region over a roughly three-day period, producing rain and thunderstorms, the National Weather Service said.

"While intermittent rounds of showers look likely through much of the weekend, there appear to be two favored time frames for heavier and more widespread shower activity: Saturday and Monday," according to the NWS. "Preliminary rainfall totals through the duration of this event look to be a broad swath of 1-2 inches across the coasts and inland valleys, 2-4 inches across the mountains and roughly .25-1 inch across the deserts."

Forecasters said any major snowfall will be above 7,000 feet during most of the storm series. However, temperatures may come down enough Saturday night "for snow to fall down to as low as 5,500-6,000 feet, though any accumulations would be very light and confined to grassy surfaces."

Highways through the San Bernardino National Forest, including state Route 243 through Idyllwild-Pine-Cove, were expected to remain passable.

Prognostication charts published by the NWS indicated the highest likelihood of thunderstorms is Monday morning and afternoon as the tail end of the last trough trundles eastward.

Meteorologists anticipated a flood watch being posted for Monday.

The weather will start to clear Monday night, followed by mostly sunny and drier conditions going into midweek.

In the Riverside metropolitan area, the highs will generally hold in the low 60s for the weekend, with overnight lows in the low 50s.

In the Coachella Valley, the daytime high will creep toward 70 Saturday and Sunday, and lows will be in the low 50s, while in the Temecula Valley, the temperature band will be virtually identical to Riverside metro.

In Southwest Riverside County, here is what meteorologists are predicting:

Saturday
Showers, mainly after 10am. High near 62. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Saturday Night
Showers, mainly before 10pm. Low around 49. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Sunday
Showers likely, mainly after 10am. Cloudy, with a high near 59. Southwest wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Sunday Night
Showers likely before 4am, then rain after 4am. Low around 50. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Monday
Rain, with thunderstorms also possible after 10am. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. High near 61. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

Monday Night
Rain likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 10pm, then a chance of showers after 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46.

Tuesday
A chance of showers, mainly before 10am. Partly sunny, with a high near 63.

Tuesday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43.

Wednesday
Partly sunny, with a high near 64.

Wednesday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 42.

Thursday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 67.