Lightning, Riverside
- When
- March 3, 6:30 PM PST
- Where
- Riverside County, Norco
- Injuries
- 3 direct, 0 indirect
- Crop damage
- $10,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 33.744, -115.994 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood and Lightning Strikes in California, March 3, 2000
A thunderstorm moved east across Orange County and the Inland Empire. Lightning struck a boat docked in Newport Beach, but the resulting fire was quickly extinquished.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 3
- Property damage
- $70,000
- Crop damage
- $10,000
- Events
- 3
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 SGX wrote it up.
A thunderstorm moved east across Orange County and the Inland Empire. Lightning struck a boat docked in Newport Beach, but the resulting fire was quickly extinquished. Several power transformers were also struck as the thunderstorm moved inland, resulting in power outages to 6300 customers in Orange County. In Riverside County, lightning struck a 50 foot pine tree just as a car was passing by. Three occupants felt the electricity course through their bodies and the heat from the lightning strike.
The radar
The San Diego radar (KNKX), 134 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:28 UTC.
Event by event
2 lightning, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning, Orange
- When
- March 3, 7:35 PM PST to 7:50 PM PST
- Where
- Orange County, Newport Beach
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 33.677, -117.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood, Orange
- When
- March 3, 8:30 PM PST to 8:45 PM PST
- Where
- Orange County, 2 mi E of Cowan Hgts
- Property damage
- $20,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 33.677, -117.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Lightning
- A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, March 3, 2000
- Excessive Heat in Wisconsin, March 3 to 9, 2000
- Tornado in Mississippi, March 3, 2000
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, March 3, 2000
- Hail in Alabama, March 3, 2000
- Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, March 3 to 4, 2000
- Waterspout in California, March 3, 2000
- Hail in Mississippi, March 3, 2000
- Hail in Alabama, March 3, 2000
- Hail in Alabama, March 3, 2000
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, March 3, 2000
- Hail in Alabama, March 3, 2000
More
Every storm in California in 2000Every state in 2000This day in weather historyWarnings in California, March 2000
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: 5136026, 5136024, 5136025.