Riverside County Forecast
RIVERSIDE – The last days of 2023 will be wet throughout the Inland Empire as storm systems cross the region, bringing light to moderate rain, according to the National Weather Service.
The agency said a trough of low pressure originating from the Gulf of Alaska will sweep through Friday and Saturday, followed by a weaker system Sunday, with the likelihood of showers lingering into New Year’s Day.
“Friday night, a vigorous shortwave trough … will move inland through Southern California and northern Baja,” the NWS said in a statement. “This will bring showers to southwestern California from the coast to the mountains, with showers spreading southward and eastward across the area, beginning Saturday morning.”
There is an 80% chance of light to moderate rainfall in western Riverside County on Saturday.
“It’s still uncertain, but this (system) is showing characteristics that indicate the potential to produce thunderstorms on Saturday,” the NWS stated.
The initial trough will gradually exit to the east Saturday evening, but it will be followed by “a weaker system (which will) move across Southern California for Sunday night and Monday, bringing a chance of showers,” the NWS said.
Temperatures will drop with the onset of the instability, but frozen precipitation will remain above 6,500 feet. There’s a chance of measurable snowfall above that level, according to meteorologists.
Daytime highs in the Riverside metropolitan area from Wednesday to Friday will hover in the low 70s, with overnight lows in the upper 40s. For the weekend, the mercury will slide, with highs around 60 and lows in the mid-40s.
In the Coachella Valley, the highs Wednesday to Friday will peak in the low 70s, and nighttime temps will be in the upper 40s. Saturday and Sunday, the daytime highs will be in the upper 60s, with no change in the lows.
The Temecula Valley’s temperature band will be virtually identical to the Riverside area’s Wednesday to Friday, but the highs will top out in the upper 50s for the weekend and low to mid-40s during the overnight hours, according to the NWS.
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