Another Storm Expected in Lake Elsinore This Week

Another storm is heading to the Inland Empire, but forecasters don’t expect anything like the intense deluge that dumped more than three inches of rain in some parts of the county last week, causing widespread flooding, rescues and road closures.

Another system is likely to reach southern California by late Thursday and stick around until Saturday. But this time, just half an inch to an inch of rain is expected, according to officials from the National Weather Service in San Diego.

Last week’s flooding was the result of a very slow moving thunderstorm that hung over the San Jacinto Valley, dumping an unusually large amount of rain over a relatively short period of time.

While thunderstorms are expected in Riverside County again this week, the odds are against the same type of downpour.

“It looks like they will be moving faster,” said Joe Dandrea, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “I would say that you would not have the same outcomes that you had last time around.”

That would be good news for cities like Hemet and San Jacinto, where mud and debris from last Thursday morning’s storms forced closures of key thoroughfares, some of which only reopened Saturday.

But forecasters caution that predicting storm activity this far out is precarious.

“Sometimes, you can hit snake eyes three times in a row,” Dandrea said.

— City News Service.

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