Flash Flood — San Bernardino, California

2019-02-14 · near Running Spgs, San Bernardino, California

Event narrative

Highway 18 received 5 to 10 inches of rain with snow levels at 10,000 feet. Runoff caused extensive damage to the state highway and it was closed to all traffic through March 2. This affected Snow Valley snow sports which was closed for 3 weeks. Emergency repairs were day and night to repair the road damage.

Wider weather episode

A major atmospheric river impacted Southern California February 13th through 15th bringing heavy rain and high winds. Over the course of 48 hours, many mountain locales recorded 8 to 10 inches of rain, with Palomar Mountain (San Diego County) recording over 10 inches of rain in 24 hours. Palm Springs recorded 3.7 inches of rain in 24 hours. This heavy rain resulted in major flash flooding and damage to roads. High snow levels resulted in flooding in the San Bernardino Mountains. Flash flood thresholds were exceeded in the Holy Fire burn scar, with an hourly maximum rainfall rate of 1.02 inches at Leach Canyon. Major flash flooding occurred at the Holy Fire burn scar. Roads were also damaged from this storm, with many roads closed for weeks for major repairs.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.2036, -117.1155)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 810219. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.