A smattering of rain and snow fell on the Hill last week. Rainfall totaled between 0.25 and 0.34 inches from Mountain Center to Pine Cove.
While the snowfall in Garner Valley and further south was more than an inch and Pine Cove recorded half an inch, Idyllwild barely saw a light covering, insufficient to declare the Town Crier’s Snow Guessing Contest over.
Freezing temperatures did descend on the Hill the past several nights, but the local water districts have not had any pipes break nor had any reports of customers suffering from busted pipes. Stone Creek Water Company, however, did have a pipe break on Camp Alandale property that affected its 15 or so customers early Monday morning, according to Town Crier co-publishers Jack and Becky Clark, residents of the area.
Map courtesy the National Weather Service
Through November, the total Hill rainfall has exceeded the long-term average (since the 1940s) for rain in Idyllwild of 5.8 inches. Since July 1, the beginning of the rain year, the U.S. Forest Service’s Keenwild Ranger Station has recorded 6.7 inches and 8.1 inches have fallen in Pine Cove.
The long-awaited El Niño storms are still forecast to arrive by middle to late December and drench the area from January through March. The latest National Weather Service forecast expects the El Niño conditions to continue into late spring or early summer.
Long-range precipitation forecasts project above-average rainfall in Southern California through early spring and above-average temperatures.
