Severe Thunderstorm Floods Parts of Riverside County

Updated at 4:15 p.m.

A thunderstorm with estimated 60 mile per hour winds dropped one inch of rain per hour south of Riverside on Sunday.

Multiple Riverside County roads flooded when the storm hit in the afternoon.

One driver said told City News Service that the rain severely slowed down traffic on the 215 freeway, particularly near Nuevo. “We could barely see and everyone was driving really slowly, around 30 miles less than usual,” she said.

California Highway Patrol officers reported flooding on the 215 Freeway near Van Buren Boulevard, south of Moreno Valley. Near Lake Elsinore, the 15 Freeway had some lanes rapidly flood near Nichols Road.

In Riverside, drivers reported flooding up to their wheels on the right lanes of the westbound 60 freeway. Flooding was also reported in areas of the 91 freeway, including at the 14th Street offramp in downtown Riverside.

CHP also reported flooding on surface streets in Perris, where rain brought debris into the roadways, and in Colton, at Reche Canyon Road.

The first flood was issued at 1:55 p.m., as a storm capable of producing winds in excess of 60 miles per hour was spotted by radar five miles east of Sun City.

The storm moved west northwest at 10 miles per hour, and moved to over Perris. The rain and wind reportedly calmed down in Menifee by 2:30 p.m.

• --City News Service