A mild weekend with cooler temperatures and rain on the way
Yesterday, Palm Springs reached a high temperature right at the seasonal average of 82°. Temperatures will slowly cool through the weekend as an area of low pressure moves in from the north. This area of low pressure will be slow-moving as it arrives late Sunday night.
This area of low pressure will continue to move inland through Wednesday and Thursday, bringing with it a long period of rain and mountain snow. More widespread and heavy rainfall is expected Monday with scattered to isolated showers continuing through Thursday in the Coachella Valley.
For the San Bernardino and Riverside county mountains a Winter Storm Watch has been issued. This goes into effect late Sunday night at 11 p.m. and lasts through 5 a.m. Thursday. This watch is for elevations above 5,500 ft. with 1'-2' of snow possible. In higher elevations, 3' of snowfall will be possible. This will make travel difficult with heavy snowfall during this time period. Elevations as low as 4,500 ft. could see snowfall by Wednesday.
On Friday evening, a 4.9M earthquake struck near Anza. This happened at 6:53 p.m. It was about 10.5 miles ESE of Anza with a depth of about 6.5 miles. Since this earthquake, as of 5:50 a.m. Saturday, there have been 10 aftershocks with 2.5M or greater. The strongest was a 3.7M. The most recent aftershock was 2.8M and it occurred at 4:49 a.m.
For the weekend temperatures will stay comfortable and below seasonal. By Monday, we are tracking those showers moving into the Coachella Valley.