Photo by Gary Leva
The devastating six-year storm, which passed over Southern California this weekend, treated the Hill very kindly. The damaging high winds and flash floods that occurred throughout the region Friday and Saturday passed north of the San Jacinto Mountains. The gentle rain simply added to the total precipitation this year.
The U.S. Forest Service’s Ranger Station at Keenwild recorded the most rain over the weekend. From Friday night into Sunday, nearly 1.6 inches fell there. The Pine Cove area received just less than 1.2 inches of rain.
Since July 1, Pine Cove has recorded more than 30.6 inches of rain, nearly 5 inches greater than the long-term annual rainfall for the Hill of 25.7 inches.
Keenwild has received about 22.1 inches, which is almost equal to the normal rainfall through the end of March.
The Idyllwild Fire Station recorded about 0.9 inches during the Friday rainfall.
Last week, the National Weather Service forecast that most of Southern California would likely be removed from the drought status this spring. After this week, NWS forecasts below-average rainfall for the remainder of spring.
