The second storm of the week moved through Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley on Thursday. Rain began to fall early and was followed by a steady amount of precipitation through the morning and into the afternoon in most parts of the Coachella Valley, before finally clearing out in the evening. Here’s how much rain fell in different parts of the desert.
Figures from the various measuring stations in the desert, via the National Weather Service (as of 4 pm Thursday):
- Whitewater Trout Farm: 1.42 inches
- Indio Hills: 1.10″
- Lower Tahquitz Creek: 1.02″
- Sky Valley: 0.99″
- Thermal Airport: 0.88″
- Indio: 0.87″
- Palm Springs Airport: 0.71″
- Thousand Palms: 0.67″
- Palm Desert: 0.63″
- Palm Desert: 0.55″
- Cathedral City: 0.44″
- Indio: 0.13″
- Cathedral Canyon: 0.10″
Meanwhile, the higher elevations (and even some not-very-high elevations) saw plenty of snow:
With the sun up this morning, visible satellite imagery shows a wide swath of snow cover across our high desert south of Barstow. The deepest snow is on the highest terrain. A report of 12 inches was received from Phelan and 8 inches in Pioneer Town. #CAwx pic.twitter.com/vHIzdA5k5K
— NWS San Diego (@NWSSanDiego) December 27, 2019
Big Bear reported anywhere from 12-18 inches of snow. Idyllwild saw 10-15 inches and Pioneertown (!) reported eight inches of snow as of Thursday evening!
We all now will have a couple of days to dry out, but another storm is on the way, with forecasters calling for an 80% chance of rain in in the Coachella Valley on Monday.
