A cold storm dropping south out of British Columbia will begin to affect us here in the valley starting Tuesday. This cold storm won’t have much moisture to work with but it will bring some cool temperatures. Highs Tuesday through Friday are only expected to be in the mid 50’s! Snow levels will drop to 2500 feet by Wednesday and there could be a dusting of snow in the upper deserts. Rain amounts for the Valley floor are forecasted under 2 tenths of an inch.

image: AccuWeather.com

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service (San Diego) - Coachella Valley (California)
Updated: Saturday, January 19, 2008 11:35pm PST

A COLD STORM WILL AFFECT SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA MONDAY THROUGH MID
WEEK…

COLD UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE APPROACHING FROM THE NORTH WILL BRING INCREASING CLOUDINESS LATE SUNDAY AND MONDAY. SHOWERS WILL BE POSSIBLE MONDAY MORNING BUT WILL BECOME MORE LIKELY LATE MONDAY AND CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY. THE WEATHER WILL REMAIN UNSETTLED INTO THE END OF THE WEEK WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS.

PRELIMINARY RAINFALL ESTIMATES ARE FOR ABOUT A QUARTER TO TWO THIRDS OF AN INCH WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS WITH NEAR AN INCH ON WEST FACING MOUNTAIN SLOPES THROUGH WEDNESDAY. LESS THAN A QUARTER INCH IS EXPECTED IN THE HIGH DESERTS WITH ONLY A FEW HUNDREDTHS IN THE SOUTHERN DESERTS. HOWEVER…RAINFALL TOTALS WILL BE QUITE VARIABLE DUE TO THE SHOWERY NATURE OF THE PRECIPITATION AND THERE COULD BE LOCAL LARGER AMOUNTS.

THIS WILL BE A COLD SYSTEM WITH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES ONLY GETTING INTO THE LOW TO MID 50S IN MOST AREAS WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. SOME INLAND VALLEY LOCATIONS WILL ONLY REACH THE MID 40S.

THE SNOW LEVEL WILL START AROUND 6000 FEET BUT WILL LOWER TO NEAR 3000 FEET TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AND SHOWERS COULD BRING LOCAL SNOW DOWN AS LOW AS 2000 FEET. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD BE ABOUT 8 TO 12 INCHES AT THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS WITH UP TO 8 INCHES IN THE SAN DIEGO MOUNTAINS AND LESS THAN 6 INCHES IN THE SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS. SNOW COULD REACH THE DESERT FLOOR IN THE APPLE AND LUCERNE VALLEY AREAS AND A LITTLE SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE HIGHER INLAND VALLEYS AND FOOTHILLS.

LOCAL STRONG GUSTY WINDS WILL ACCOMPANY THIS SYSTEM ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS AND LOCALLY INTO THE DESERTS. THERE WILL ALSO BE AREAS OF DENSE FOG IN THE MOUNTAINS. THE COMBINATION OF SNOW…BLOWING SNOW AND DENSE FOG WILL MAKE TRAVEL HAZARDOUS IN THE MOUNTAINS. THE COLD
WEATHER COULD BE DEADLY FOR PEOPLE EXPOSED TO THE ELEMENTS SUCH AS UNPREPARED CAMPERS OR HIKERS.

LOCAL HEAVY RAIN SHOWERS COULD CAUSE MUD SLIDES AND DEBRIS FLOW…ESPECIALLY IN AND BELOW RECENTLY BURNED AREAS. PEOPLE SHOULD STAY INFORMED ON THIS DEVELOPING COLD WEATHER SYSTEM.