Lake Elsinore

Lake Elsinore is a natural freshwater lake in Riverside County, California, located east of the Santa Ana Mountains and fed by the San Jacinto River. Originally named Laguna Grande by Spanish explorers, it was renamed for the town of Elsinore, now Lake Elsinore, established on its northeastern shore on April 9, 1888.

Limnology

Lake Elsinore is the largest natural freshwater lake in Southern California. With its own 750-mi² (1,900-km²) watershed, it is situated at the lowest point within the San Jacinto River watershed of 750 sq mi (1,900 km²), at the terminus of the San Jacinto River. It is the terminal lake of a partially closed basin called the San Jacinto Basin.

Lake levels are healthy at 1,244 ft (379 m) (above sea level) with a volume of 30,000 acre·ft (37,000,000 m³) that often fluctuates, although much has been done recently to prevent the lake from drying up, flooding, or becoming stagnant.

At 1,255 ft (383 m), the lake will spill into the outflow channel on its northeastern shore, known properly as Temescal Wash, flowing northwest through Temescal Canyon and feeding Alberhill Creek, which joins Temescal Creek, which in turn dumps into the Santa Ana River just northwest of Corona.

Lake Elsinore Storm

The Lake Elsinore Storm is a minor league baseball team in Lake Elsinore, California, USA. It is a Class A – Advanced team in the California League, and is a farm team of the San Diego Padres. The Storm plays its home games at Lake Elsinore Diamond (Pete Lehr Field), which opened in 1994; the park seats 7,866 fans.

This team relocated three times and has been traced back to the Redwood Pioneers, then the Palm Springs Angels, and finally the Lake Elsinore Storm. As the Palm Springs Angels and later as the Storm, it had previously been the "high-A" affiliate of the Angels until the end of the 2000 season (along with their former mascot, Hamlet), when it and the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes switched affiliations. Some former members of the Storm later became members of the Angels 2002 World Series championship team.

On May 18, 2007, the Storm set a league record for most lopsided victory, beating the Lancaster JetHawks by a 30–0 score.

Since the 2004 opening of PETCO Park, the new home field of the Padres, the Storm has played one home game there toward the end of each season, as the second half of a doubleheader following a Padres daytime home game. Usually, its opponent has been the California League farm team of the Padres' same-day opponents.