CHASE ARCHIVES
2004
November 21, 2004
Lake Elsinore/Wildomar, CA - Very rare lowland snowfall in the Inland Empire region of Southern California. Strong cold core surface low moves south out of Nevada coupled with a deep moist marine layer. Strong thunderstorms break out during the pre-dawn hours over the entire Inland Empire with rapidly falling temperatures and snow levels. By sunrise the snow level had dropped to 1000 feet in many areas from Lake Elsinore to Temecula and east to Hemet. I "snow chased" through Lake Elsinore and Wildomar areas encountering as much as 5" of snow along Bundy Cyn Rd in eastern Wildomar. Snow continued to fall above 1500 feet in eastern Lake Elsinore, Wildomar, and Murietta through 1pm. This was also the earliest valley snowfall event in my lifetime to date.
