Flood Watch In Riverside County: Heavy Rain Expected Through Monday

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA —Much of Riverside County was placed under a Flood Advisory Monday morning as a large storm settled over Riverside County. That storm was expected to bring heavy rain, a chance of thunderstorms, and flooding to the area Monday morning at least until 11:30 a.m., the National Weather Service advised.

"Widespread moderate to heavy rainfall will develop, bringing isolated thunderstorms and pockets of heavy rain," the National Weather Service reported.

Shortly before 8 a.m., Doppler radar indicated moderate to localized heavy rain, the NWS forecasters said. Minor flooding is expected in the advisory area. Between 0.15 and 0.25 inches of rain have already fallen in these areas.

"Additional rainfall amounts of 0.25 to 0.5 inches are expected over the area. This additional rain will result in minor flooding," they said.

Some locations that will experience flooding include Moreno Valley, Temecula, Redlands, Lake Elsinore, Yucaipa, Hemet, Hwy 243 Between Banning And Idyllwild, Idyllwild-Pine Cove, Forest Falls, and Mt San Jacinto State Park.

Rainfall was expected to taper off to scattered showers midday Monday into Tuesday morning.

The NWS issued a Flood Advisory for the majority of Riverside County that would remain in effect until 10 a.m., according to reports.

This advisory includes the Apple and El Dorado Burn Scar areas.

"Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles."

Some parts of the Inland Empire have received more than an inch of rain during the first significant storms of 2024.

How much rain are we getting?

"Preliminary rainfall totals through the duration of this event look to be a broad swath of 1 to 2 inches across the coasts and inland valleys, 2 to 4 inches across the mountains and roughly .25 to 1 inch across the deserts."

Forecasters said any major snowfall will be above 7,000 feet during most of the storm series although temperatures may come down enough "for snow to fall down to as low as 5,500 to 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.

The weather was expected to clear Monday afternoon and evening, followed by mostly sunny and drier conditions going into midweek.

In the Temecula Valley and 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 and lows will be in the low 50s throughout the week.