By Reginald Stanley. Posted February 18, 2026, 11:57 PM.

A potent shortwave trough swept across Southern California overnight Tuesday into early Wednesday morning, bringing downpours, gusty winds and thunderstorms to much of the region.

Showers began shortly before midnight across the inland valleys (and earlier Tuesday evening in Simi Valley), which were preceded by increasingly gusty west/southwest winds; intensifying further after midnight. During this period, SoCal communities were hit by a series of small but potent "squall lines" - carrying brief periods of heavy precipitation, strong winds, and even embedded thunderstorms which produced small hail in some inland communities. In addition, the cold nature of the storm brought snow levels down to 3500-4000 feet above sea level. Across the majority of WeatherCurrents stations, peak wind gusts occurred between 3 and 4 AM Wednesday morning - varying from 22 MPH in South Fallbrook, to as high as 47 MPH in Lake Elsinore. In the valleys, wind gusts between 30-40 MPH were widespread, before winds began to weaken somewhat during the later morning hours. Thunder and lightning were reported across portions of Orange County, as well as over Corona.

Storm totals varied considerably across the inland valleys. In Temecula Valley's Wine Country, 1.69 inches was reported for Tuesday-Wednesday, as well as small hail Wednesday morning (courtesy of Jim Sappington). WeatherCurrents stations in Lake Elsinore and Pinon Hills both exceeded 1", while Anza narrowly missed the mark with 0.99 inches, and Simi Valley in tow with 0.97 inches. Meanwhile on the lower end of precipitation amounts was Riverside's Canyon Crest neighborhood with 0.30 inches, where the recorded peak wind gust was similarly low (only 23 MPH, courtesy of Jim Ness). South Fallbrook, East Hemet and San Jacinto also placed low with precipitation. Showers had largely ended west of the mountains by Wednesday morning, although gusty winds remained. Another storm featuring gusty winds is expected to impact the region on Thursday.

Here are the rain totals for the WeatherCurrents network and associates:

1. 48-hour total.
2. French Valley season total incomplete.

Here are the recorded max wind gusts for the WeatherCurrents network and associates: