Posted December 31, 2005, 11:27 PM.

A tornado damaged property in southern Temecula, in the Rainbow Canyon Villages area, on the morning of February 19th. A tornado swath that day included touchdowns in Fallbrook and Rainbow prior to damaging fences, roofs and trees in a Temecula neighborhood.

Other tornados in 2005 were near Hemet on January 9th and July 23rd, and in Sun City and Quail Valley on August 6th. Lake Elsinore had a landspout to the east of the lake on February 27th.

On June 30th, the rain season ended with 32.63" recorded in Temecula, 37.21" in Murrieta, 30.76" in Hemet, and 37.44" in Fallbrook (a record). Los Angeles recorded the second wettest rain season in its history at 35.89". The rain season ran July 1st, 2004 to June 30th, 2005.

Major fires in the area occurred on June 26th in the Soboba area near San Jacinto and Hemet, burning over 2,000 acres, and two fires near Moreno Valley, the first on September 28th, burning over 1,100 acres, and the other in an adjacent area on October 5th, burning over 6,000 acres. Southwestern Riverside county was spared any major wildfires in 2005.

Remnants of Hurricane Emily doused the Hemet area and other inland communities on July 23rd. A spectacular lightning storm, courtesy of monsoonal moisture, kept local residents awake on September 19th and 20th.

Relatively minor earthquakes occured this year on June 12th near Anza, east of Temecula and south of Hemet, and on June 19th near Yucaipa.

Fall this year was relatively dry, and inland areas ended the year with rainfall at about half or less of normal. The types of storms which reached down into Southern California in the last three months of 2004 stayed north instead, causing flooding in Northern California.