Significant precipitation fell on the Hill Christmas week, but it was not a white Christmas. Also, the volume did not approach the torrential rainfall further north.

The Idyllwild Fire Department recorded .85 inches of rain last week, although Pine Cove received nearly an inch and a half in the same period. Further south the Forest Service’s Keenwild Ranger Station recorded 1.68 inches. Most of the rainfall occurred Christmas Eve through the day after Christmas.

For the year, IFPD’s recorded rainfall was about 60 percent of the 20-year average, whereas Pine Cove received about 70 percent of the average.

None of these amounts came close to the inundation of 12 inches at Middle Lytle Creek or the 10 inches at Wrightwood. Residents of Wrightwood were urged to stay home and Highway 2 was closed. After the storm passed, at least 50 homes were reported as severely damaged and some now uninhabitable.

This compares to nearly 8 inches of rain on the Hill in February 2019. That storm resulted in the closures of Hwy 243 from north of Pine Cove to Banning and Hwy 74 between Mountain Center and Hemet. It was months before they reopened to normal traffic.

On December 23, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for five counties and on December 24 the3 emergency proclamation was extended to include Riverside County. This included deploying emergency personnel.

During this rainy period, Idyllwild set another temperature record. On Christmas Eve night, the temperature fell only to 47 degrees, which was 3 degrees higher than the previous minimum temperature for this date, set in 1969.

The National Weather Service’s early forecast for New Year’s includes the possibility of more rain. “A low-pressure system from the southwest will likely bring a return of precipitation for Wednesday through next weekend, though exact timing and precipitation amounts are still uncertain.”