Photo by JP Crumrine
Winter appeared to arrive last week. At least Mt. San Jacinto Peak and some higher-level elevation neighborhoods, such as upper Fern Valley, Humber Park and Pine Cove, briefly saw a few inches of snow.
The center of Idyllwild was drenched from the rainfall, but snow was noticeably absent, as were the “snow-play visitors.” No winner has yet been declared for the Town Crier Snow Guessing Contest due to the lack of measurable snow at the Idyllwild Fire Station.
The U.S. Forest Service’s Keenwild Ranger Station recorded 3.3 inches of rain from Monday afternoon, Jan. 8, to early Tuesday morning, Jan. 9. Between July 1, 2017 and Jan. 1, 2018, Keenwild recorded 1.4 inches of rain, for a total rainfall since the beginning of the rain year of 4.7 inches, which is the historic average just for January. The historic average rainfall between July 1 and Feb. 1 has been 14 inches, which is well above Hill rainfall this rain year.
The National Weather Service is forecasting that the current La Niña will continue through the winter months and eventually weaken in the spring. This forecast means above-average temperatures and below-average precipitation are most likely to continue through March.
Last week’s storm dropped more precipitation on areas north and south of Idyllwild and Pine Cove. Vista Grande reported nearly 4.5 inches of rain and Palomar reported more than 6 inches of rain.
