Strong thunderstorm in mountains above Coachella Valley packing strong winds, hail

A strong thunderstorm moved across the mountain areas above the Coachella Valley Tuesday afternoon and was expected to bring with it high winds and hail.

The National Weather Service said radar showed the storm near Highway 74 between Mountain Center and Anza and moving north at about 1:40 p.m.

Wind gusts of nearly 50 mph were predicted with penny-sized hail. Impacted areas were expected to be:

• Southeastern Palm Springs
• Idyllwild-Pine Cove
• Anza
• Highway 243 between Banning And Idyllwild
• Rancho Mirage
• Highway 74 between Mountain Center and Anza, Mountain Center
• Highway 74 Between Anza and Palm Desert,
• Highway 74 between Hemet and Mountain Center
• Lake Hemet

The weather service warned that gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow unsecured objects, with minor hail damage possible.

Shortly before 3 p.m., the weather service also issued a flood advisory for some of those areas, including Idyllwild, eastern Anza and some stretches of Highway 74. Between half an inch and one inch of rain had already fallen in the area, with another 0.5 to 1.5 inches in the forecast for the late afternoon.

Flash flood warning for Riverside, San Bernardino counties Tuesday

In addition, a flash flood warning was issued for parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties near the Twentynine Palms area until 4 p.m.

At 12:56 p.m., doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing heavy rain across the warned area. Between 1 and 1.5 inches of rain had fallen and additional rain amounts up to 1 inch were possible in the area under the warning.

This is a developing story.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Strong thunderstorm in mountains above Coachella Valley packing strong winds, hail