First Alert Weather Alert: Tracking the first major winter storm of the season
The Coachella Valley has stayed mostly dry throughout the day on Sunday. We've seen just a couple of light drizzles producing trace amounts of rain towards the eastern end of the valley. There's been some significant rainfall to our west, though, across much of the Southern California region today!
Data from the National Weather Service shows rainfall totals over the past 24 hours above half an inch in the areas shaded in green.
Several portions of Southern California are now under Flood Advisories from the National Weather Service. These areas are seeing significant rainfall near burn scars. The advisories are cautioning that minor debris flows are possible around the footprint of the Eaton and Mountain Fires.
Looking ahead at our FutureTrack data, we're still expecting to see rain across the valley floor as we continue into Sunday evening and into the early hours of Monday morning. We should expect the potential for rain showers and higher-elevation (above 4,000 ft.) snow to continue throughout the day with a good chance of more activity continuing into Monday. Rainfall totals are a little hard to pinpoint exactly, but a few tenths to more than half an inch are possible. Folks at those higher elevations can expect several inches to more than a foot of snow with more snow the higher up you go.
And just up the tramway, we're already seeing snow on our Long Valley Camera!
Here in the Coachella Valley, we are seeing dew points in the 30s and 40s. Moisture has steadily been climbing since Saturday morning with this storm system moving in.
A Winter Storm Warning is in place for our local Riverside and San Bernardino County mountains, specifically for elevations at/above 4,000 feet. These areas can expect between several inches to upwards of two feet of snow (depending on the elevation)! Travel in or out of these regions is not recommended for the duration of this warning as sudden wind gusts, visibility issues, and slick roads can lead to dangerous conditions.
Temperatures will stay in the 60s for the next several days thanks to the abundance of cloud cover and colder air moving in with this system. The First Alert Weather Alert Day should wrap up on Sunday, but we've kept the highlight up for Monday as we're still tracking some continued moisture to start the work week. There's some slight potential for more moisture on Tuesday, but drier conditions and a warming trend are expected into next weekend.
