NWS: Riverside residents “be prepared to take action” ahead of possible floods
Heavy rain is expected to hit Riverside County Wednesday evening and continue into Thursday night, bringing with it the potential for dangerous flash floods, the National Weather Service said.
A low-pressure storm system was bearing down on the region from over the Pacific, augmented by a subtropical plume of moisture, bringing with it rain that “may be heavy at times” today and Thursday in the Riverside metropolitan area, the NWS said. The storm was moving into Southern California from the southwest in a northeastern direction and will likely miss the Coachella Valley until at least Thursday morning.
“The main rain event is anticipated (tonight) into Thursday, with flash flooding and debris flows near recent burn scars possible,” the NWS said.
The weather service issued a flash flood watch that will go into effect this evening and last through Thursday night for the Riverside metropolitan area and Riverside County’s valleys, including the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley and Corona. A flash flood watch signifies that conditions may develop that lead to flash flooding.
“You should monitor later forecasts and be prepared to take action should flash flood warnings be issued,” the NWS warned.
Portions of the Riverside metropolitan area could get half an inch of rain per hour, or up to an inch per hour during the heaviest periods of rainfall, the NWS said. Some areas in the inland valleys and coastal slopes could see rainfall totals up to 6 inches during the storm.
Rain should reach the Coachella Valley on Thursday morning, with meteorologists forecasting a 70 percent chance of precipitation in the Coachella Valley early Thursday and a 40 percent chance later on Thursday.
Despite the potential for rain, the weather in the Coachella Valley will be warmer today than on Tuesday, with high temperatures forecast to be 82 to 87 degrees today before cooling to between 75 and 80 on Thursday.
In the Riverside metropolitan area, high temperatures today will be 69 to 74 degrees with mostly cloudy skies. High temperatures tomorrow will drop to between 61 and 66 degrees.
The warmer weather means snow is unlikely to accompany the storm, with forecasters predicting the snow level will stay above 8,000 feet today and Thursday before dropping to 6,500 feet on Friday. By that time, the precipitation from the storm might already have passed through the region, though the NWS forecast a 20 percent chance of precipitation in the mountains on Friday.
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