Rain impacts weekend plans across the valley

On Saturday the Coachella Valley received its first storm after the year 2020 shattered records by having 151 days of triple digit heat. The previous record of triple digit heat in a calendar year stood at 135 days.

Wind gusts were strong enough to send debris flying. Coincidentally there were several events scheduled for this weekend that were somewhat impacted by the new weather spurt.

"Because of the high wind and rain we had some issues with the tents that are used as part of our testing location. Just out of concern for the safety of staff and also the people getting tested, we decided to stop testing and closing for the time being," said Riverside County spokesperson, Jose Arballo.

Riverside County's testing site at Indio Fairgrounds was gated up on Saturday, with a sign that indicated when it would open back up.

Other valley events had to be canceled. The first day of outdoor service at Southwest Church in Indian Wells was canceled Saturday evening due to weather. The Spanish service was offered online, the way it has been throughout much of the pandemic.

"On a weekend where weather is going to threaten that again, it’s like, 'Oh my gosh come on, we worked so hard to get to this point.' But I think it pushes back on that personal faith," said Southwest Church Executive Pastor, Tim Kuhl.

Large circles have been drawn out on the lawn, which are intended to keep parishioners socially distanced during the outdoor service. Kuhl said they will keep their online services, but visitors will not have the option to attend upon reservation. Only a limited amount of people are able to attend.

"For months we’ve been waiting to try to set up church outdoors because of the hot summer, and now we are here because of the conditions in the fall. We are on a constant watch to see how weather conditions will be every weekend," said Kuhl.

As of Saturday they were still monitoring conditions for their English services that would happen on Sunday. Kuhl said it was likely the events would continue, but they planned on revisiting the matter early in the morning to determine whether rain could cause them to switch to a virtual service.

Further west, the weather did not stop dozens of people from celebrating a scaled down Pride celebration on Arenas Road in Palm Springs. Several visitors could be seen dining out on the patios of restaurants and bars.

"It didn’t rain, it drizzled. My whole patio is covered in umbrellas so we were fine," said Eagle 501 Bar general manager, Randy Carmenaty.

The bar, which now offers food so that it could open under the state's COVID-19 guidelines, received many customers on its outdoor patio.

"We’re doing even better. It’s a happy Pride, the election is over, it’s great," said Carmenaty.

As for a Pride-themed drive-in movie night at the Palm Springs Cultural Center, organizers cautiously set up tables for the evening's outside event as they hoped for the best.

"We’re doing an amazing film called, Ahead of the Curve. We’re doing it outside with cars, social distance, bring your own chairs," said Palm Springs Cultural Center general manager, Eric Smith.

Smith and center employees were optimistic about the event, but if it did rain, Smith said the event would likely be stopped.

"We do have an exterior projector and the rain would completely ruin the projector and at that time we could talk about rain checks, refunds, we’ll get everything rescheduled," said Smith.