High Wind, Shasta Lake/North Shasta County
- When
- January 1, 12:00 AM PST to 3:00 PM PST
- Where
- Shasta Lake/North Shasta County forecast zone
- Measured
- 87 kt (100 mph)
High Wind in California, January 1, 1996
Gusts of 100 mph were measured at La Canada with gusts to 75 mph over the Cajon Pass and Fremont Canyon. Trees and power lines were damaged or blown down in many areas, knocking out power to some 200,000 residences, and igniting numerous small fires.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 4
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS LOX wrote it up.
A strong surface high pressure area building into Nevada, and strong winds aloft, combined to produce powerful Santa Ana winds.Gusts of 100 mph were measured at La Canada with gusts to 75 mph over the Cajon Pass and Fremont Canyon. Trees and power lines were damaged or blown down in many areas, knocking out power to some 200,000 residences, and igniting numerous small fires. In Orange, fire spread from a flaming palm tree to a nearby two story duplex while at the Mall of Orange, twelve power poles snapped off. In Montrose, a storage barn lost its roof and some businesses in the area had windows blown out.
Event by event
4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, Northern Sacramento Valley
- When
- January 1, 12:00 AM PST to 3:00 PM PST
- Where
- Northern Sacramento Valley forecast zone
- Measured
- 87 kt (100 mph)
High Wind, Central Sacramento Valley
- When
- January 1, 12:00 AM PST to 3:00 PM PST
- Where
- Central Sacramento Valley forecast zone
- Measured
- 87 kt (100 mph)
High Wind, Southern Sacramento Valley
- When
- January 1, 12:00 AM PST to 3:00 PM PST
- Where
- Southern Sacramento Valley forecast zone
- Measured
- 87 kt (100 mph)
What these are
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lightning Strike in Louisiana, January 1, 1996
- Tornado in Florida, January 1, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Oklahoma, January 1 to 2, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Arkansas, January 1 to 2, 1996
- Heavy Snow in West Virginia, January 1 to 31, 1996
- Winter Storm in Missouri, January 1 to 2, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Wyoming, January 1, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Oklahoma, January 1 to 2, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, January 1, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Arkansas, January 1 to 2, 1996
- Heavy Snow in New Mexico, January 1, 1996
- Heavy Snow in South Dakota, January 1 to 4, 1996
More
Every storm in California in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5538159, 5538160, 5538161, 5538162.