The wet weather in the Inland Empire was expected to taper off today, although chilly temperatures will persist throughout the week.
By 2:30 p.m., the second of two back-to-back weekend weather systems had begun to move east of the region, according to the National Weather Service, giving way to sunlight in some areas. However, a wind advisory will remain in effect until 6 p.m. and the NWS warns that wind speeds could reach 65 mph in the deserts and mountains.
The low pressure system brought rain to the valleys and snow to the mountains, and prompted a Winter Weather Advisory to be issued by the NWS.
In the 48 hours prior to 1 p.m., many areas in Riverside County received at least a quarter inch of rain, including Murrieta, Perris and Hemet.
Riverside received .55 inches while Temecula received .51 inches. Many mountain areas received upwards of half an inch of rainfall.
The storm also dumped up to 5 inches of snow in places with elevations 4,800 feet and above over the weekend.
The increased snow levels ushered in ski season and were a welcome treat to those looking to take to the slopes. Bear Mountain in the San Bernardino Mountains opened on Friday and its sister resort, Snow Summit, followed suit on Saturday.
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Those on the roads were not so welcoming of the weather. The precipitation combined with holiday traffic to create large back ups in some of the major corridors into Southern California. The Interstate 10 in the San Gorgonio Pass, a 30 mile slow jam developed on the only freeway from the Coachella Valley to the rest of the state.
Cars were also reduced to a crawl on the southbound Interstate 15 over the Cajon Pass, where the average speed from Palmdale Road to Sierra Avenue was about 20 mph, according to Sigalert.com.
Both those highways still had severe backups by 3 p.m.
