By Reginald Stanley. Posted March 8, 2024, 3:32 PM.

A trough brought showers and wind to the region Wednesday evening, with an additional fast-moving shortwave bringing thunderstorm activity to the region Thursday afternoon and evening.

Showers began arriving Wednesday afternoon as a trough approached Point Conception west of Santa Barbara, with heavier precipitation becoming more widespread late Wednesday evening and night. Rain departed the region shortly after midnight Thursday, however unsettled weather continued throughout the day, giving way to a shortwave that rapidly travelled southeast across the region Thursday afternoon and evening. This shortwave produced intense thunderstorms over the San Fernando Valley as well as over the San Gabriel Mountains. Cities along Interstate 210 which hug the southern slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains were severely hit; this trend continued into portions of southwestern San Bernardino and western Riverside counties. WeatherCurrents' station in San Jacinto took a direct hit from a thunderstorm cell Thursday evening (which also hit Beaumont), having recorded 1.26 inches there on Thursday alone - 0.76 inches fell in less than one hour Thursday evening. Stations in nearby Hemet, Perris, Moreno Valley and Riverside (Orangecrest) also received significant rainfall during the event. Convection during the storm weakened significantly as it moved further south away from the transverse ranges, resulting in much lower rainfall at WeatherCurrents stations to the south. In Temecula Valley's Wine Country, 0.25 inches was reported through Thursday night (courtesy of Jim Sappington), closely aligning with the 0.23 inches recorded in south Temecula. Pinon Hills recorded the lowest total with only 0.04 inches from Wednesday through Friday.

Mostly sunny skies and milder temperatures prevailed Friday in the wake of the storm. Multiple low pressure systems are forecast to pass to the north of Southern California early next week, however there is currently low confidence in their trajectory, particularly around the middle of next week as high pressure moves in. For this weekend, dry weather and offshore flow will continue through early next week.

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

1. French Valley season total incomplete.