Desert residents can look forward to warm temperatures reaching the mid to upper 70s, continuing through Presidents Day weekend — with light rain possible Tuesday night.
“It's a weaker storm than what we saw in early February,” Alex Tardy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said of the rolling weather system. “Most of the rain will fall on Tuesday evening because that's when the main storm moves through (Palm Springs),” he added. . “The storm is getting out of here very quickly on Wednesday.”
Less than a quarter-inch of rain is expected in the Coachella Valley, just enough to get the ground wet. The top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway will receive a few inches of snow “until the cold front comes in early Wednesday morning,” he said.
The storm, which originated from the Pacific Northwest and is pulling tropical moisture into the atmosphere, will primarily affect Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, with those cities expected to receive approximately 2 to 4 inches of rain.
February was wetter than normal, with 1.33 inches of rainfall in Palm Springs — 0.75 inches above average.
“It's safe to say that for this winter, Palm Springs is exactly where it should be on average in a year, but most of this (rain) fell in February,” Tardy said.
The next storm will likely stick around through the end of the month, he said, with the Coachella Valley potentially getting a chance of rain from Feb. 25-27.
Jennifer Cortez covers education in the Coachella Valley. Contact her at jennifer.cortez@desertsun.com.
