The strongest Santa Ana wind event of this year began in the early morning hours of December 3 and continued into the afternoon of December 4. Ten power poles were knocked down in Northwest San Bernardino, just below the Cajon Pass.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.
The strongest Santa Ana wind event of this year began in the early morning hours of December 3 and continued into the afternoon of December 4. Ten power poles were knocked down in Northwest San Bernardino, just below the Cajon Pass. Power lines were also blown down in Muscoy, Rialto, Fontana, Murrieta, and Lake Elsinore. Two elementary schools were closed due to the downed power lines. Most of the major highways in the Inland Empire and through the Santa Ana Mountains were closed, partially due to two semi-tractor trailers that overturned, partially from blowing dust reducing visibility, and partially from road signs and other debris being blown onto the roads. Two barns were destroyed when their roofs were lifted off and six horses received minor injuries.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 1999
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: 5723226, 5723228, 5723227.