INLAND EMPIRE - (INT) - An intense storm cell developed Monday afternoon near Lake Mathews and moved east over the Gavilan Hills to Woodcrest and Mead Valley delivering a glancing blow to the outskirts of Perris, Riverside and Moreno Valley. Locally intense rainfall triggered flash flooding in rural, hilly areas.

Two people were rescued from their car when it got trapped on Estelle Mountain Road.

The rain helped quench a fire outside a warehouse near March Air Reserve Base. Flaming pallets, cardboard and other construction material sent up a huge black plume of smoke that was visible throughout the Inland Empire’s Metro area.

In Barstow, a wall of mud and dirt covered Main Street at Hinkley Road. There were several reports of street flooding in the Victorville-Apple Valley area.

Monday’s storms also lashed out at the San Bernardino Mountains bringing down trees, triggering mudslides and loosening basketball-sized boulders along Highway 38 from Valley of the Falls to Jenks Lake, the Highway Patrol reported.

In Forest Falls, multiple power lines and underground gas service to individual homes were compromised, the San Bernardino County Fire Department reported. Route 38 was closed between Lakewood Drive (Lake Williams) and Jenks Lake West due to multiple mudslides and rockfall in the area.

Flooded roads were briefly impassable in the Banning Pass including Cabazon.

County road crews and Caltrans are clearing the affected streets and highways.

Classes at Cal State San Bernardino were to resume Tuesday after two days of heavy rain invaded some buildings.

Selected Inland Empire storm totals Monday--

Lake Elsinore .69
March Air Reserve Base .42
Lake Mathews .17
Running Springs 2.03
Panorama Point .75
Wrightwood 1.44

Several locations in the San Bernardino Mountains recorded between 1-2 inches of rain.

Meantime, the combination of rain, humidity and cooler weather is helping firefighters extinguish the last of the Fairview Fire near Hemet and the Radford fire near Big Bear.

As the likelihood of more rain fades and the atmosphere dries out, forecasters doubt a return of last week’s intense heat.

Story Date: September 13, 2022