INLAND EMPIRE – (INT) – Riverside and San Bernardino counties escaped additional damage in the Tuesday-Wednesday storm despite another round of impressive rainfall.

Rainfall records for March 15th were set with Big Bear and Idyllwild recording just over 2-inches.

2-day rainfall totals:
YUCAIPA RIDGE 5.43
GLEN HELEN REG PARK 5.12
SANTIAGO PEAK 5.07
LYTLE CREEK 4.66
SAN BERNARDINO 1.75
ONTARIO 2.56
RIVERSIDE 1.08
MORENO VALLEY 1.57
TEMECULA 1.73
PALM SPRINGS 0.16
APPLE VALLEY 0.06

In the San Bernardino Mountains, there were no reports of serious flooding as rain added to the melting snowpack into early Wednesday.

Alternating rain clouds and sunshine are on deck into the weekend.

The Southland will get just a few days of reprieve before yet another atmospheric river arrives next week, the National Weather Service warns.

California has been hit by eleven atmospheric rivers this winter. Not all have reached the Inland Empire. The long, narrow bands of moisture carry saturated air thousands of miles across the Pacific like a fire hose – to inundate California.

California’s winter temperatures are also making an impact. Lake Tahoe’s Emerald Bay has frozen over for the first time in 30 years.

San Bernardino County officials are beginning to assess damage stemming from the recent winter blizzard.

Dozens of homes and commercial buildings were impacted by roofs that collapsed under the weight of several feet of snow. Reports should be submitted to the County Fire Department on line at https://bit.ly/3LfRmM5.

Inspectors have red-tagged 29 structures as too damaged to be inhabited and yellow-tagged 27 others, allowing for limited occupancy. Those numbers are expected to grow as assessments continue.

Story Date: March 16, 2023