Waterspout in California, December 31, 1999

Name: Waterspout in California, December 31, 1999
Start: 1999-12-31T15:23
End: 1999-12-31T15:24
Location: California

December 31, 1999 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 waterspout, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 radar

The Santa Ana Mts radar (KSOX), 20 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:21 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 waterspout. Local standard time, as filed.

Waterspout, Orange

When: December 31, 3:23 PM PST to 3:24 PM PST
Where: Orange County, Costa Mesa
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 33.677, -117.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Waterspout: A tornado over water. One that moves ashore is filed as a tornado from the coastline on.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 1999 Every state in 1999 This day in weather history Warnings in California, December 1999

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: 5722690.