Monsoon Conditions Expected to Continue

Image courtesy of the National Weather Service

By City News Service

The hot and humid weather that has descended on the Coachella Valley, bringing with it the threat of thunderstorms and flooding, is expected to continue at least through Friday.

Relative humidity reached nearly 50 percent in Palm Springs Wednesday and isolated thunderstorms and sometimes-heavy rain are forecast to continue into early next week.

“We’re going to have an extended period of classic monsoon conditions,” said Tina Stall, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s San Diego office.

Late Wednesday afternoon, NWS forecasters issued a severe thunderstorm warning, saying a storm capable of producing 60 mph winds and penny-sized hail was developing in the Beaumont area. The NWS also issued a flash flood warning for areas including Hemet, Mountain Center and Valle Vista.

By late afternoon, forecasters said the storm system had weakened considerably, and the thunderstorm warning was canceled.

But forecasters warned that more storms are still likely as the night wears on.

Unlike the storm system two weeks ago resulting from remnants of Hurricane Dolores, which dumped rain across Southern California, the latest weather system is driven by moisture coming from the Gulf of Mexico and will mostly affect only the mountains and deserts, Stall said.

In those areas, there will be a chance of thunderstorms every day through early next week, with the potential for heavy precipitation in some places, she said.

“With these kinds of storms, it’s very hard to pinpoint actual (rainfall) amounts,” Stall said. “You can have some pretty significant rainfall if a thunderstorm is right above you and moving slowly.”

Temperatures will likely remain in the low 100s in the Coachella Valley through Friday, before climbing to 110 or above by the weekend, Stall said.

The storm two weeks ago battered some parts of the valley, resulting in damage that included the failure of a 30-foot freeway bridge in Desert Center that forced the complete closure of Interstate 10 in the area for five days.

Since then, a six-person Caltrans maintenance crew has been inspecting every bridge and drainage culvert along a 70-mile stretch of Interstate 10, from Highway 111 to an area just west of Blythe, ensuring that debris is cleared out so that water flows properly without causing damage, said Shelli Lombardo, spokeswoman for Caltrans District 8.

Three other maintenance crews are inspecting other areas throughout the desert, she said.

Lombardo warned motorists to resist the temptation to try to drive through flooded areas. As always, Caltrans officials are keeping a close eye on the forecasts to ensure they’re ready to respond to any problems.

“We watch the weather and we work in preparation of the storm,” Lombardo said. “We strategically place equipment and have our staff ready to go.”