High Wind in California, August 14, 2001

Name: High Wind in California, August 14, 2001
Start: 2001-08-14T12:30
End: 2001-08-14T13:00
Location: California

August 14, 2001 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A large dust devil, 400 feet high and 100 feet wide, destroyed an outdoor sign, toppled a portable toilet, and rolled a telephone pole log lying on the ground 20 feet.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $2,000
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.

What happened

The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.

A large dust devil, 400 feet high and 100 feet wide, destroyed an outdoor sign, toppled a portable toilet, and rolled a telephone pole log lying on the ground 20 feet.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS San Diego, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 14, 7:15 AM PST, 5 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 14, 7:15 AM PST, 5 hours 15 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
815 AM PDT TUE AUG 14 2001

                             ...SYNOPSIS...
ONSHORE FLOW AND A SHALLOW MARINE LAYER WILL CAUSE PATCHY NIGHT AND
MORNING COASTAL LOW CLOUDS AND FOG. AFTERNOON CLOUDS ARE EXPECTED
OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS AGAIN TODAY. THE AIR MASS IS MORE
STABLE....AND THE THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS IS LOWER.STRONG HIGH
PRESSURE ALOFT WILL KEEP THE WEATHER FAIR WITH HOT DAYS INLAND
THROUGH THE WEEKEND. GRADUALLY COOLER NEXT WEEK AS THE HIGH WEAKENS.

                             ...DISCUSSION...
THE THUNDERSTORM QUESTION HAS BEEN RAISED AGAIN FOR TODAYS WEATHER
PROBLEM. 24 HOUR CHANGES SHOW DEWPOINTS ARE DOWN ABOUT 5 DEGREES
OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS...ABOUT 2 DEGREES CELSIUS WARMING HAS
TAKEN PLACE IN THE 15000-20000 FT LAYER...THE FLOW ABOVE THIS LEVEL
HAS VEERED TO NW 40 KT...AND SATELLITE IMAGERY/PIREPS INDICATE
SUBSIDENCE/WARMING ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE TODAY. TRIGGER
TEMPS OF NEAR 90 FOR THE HIGHER MOUNTAIN LOCATIONS COULD BE REACHED
BY MIDDAY AND ENOUGH MOISTURE IN AIR MASS FOR CUMULUS
FORMATION...BUT THESE ARE LIKELY TO BE CAPPED FROM GROWING MUCH
BEYOND MODERATE CUMULUS. WILL ISSUE AN UPDATE AROUND 9 AM TO LOWER
THREAT OF TSTMS TO ISOLATED TODAY AND/OR ELIMINATE FROM WEDNESDAY
FORECAST. WILL ALSO INCLUDE HEADLINES IN SOME INLAND ZONES FOR NEAR
RECORD TEMPERATURES ON WEDNESDAY.

WILL LEAVE EXTENDED PERIODS ALONE FOR NOW BUT POSSIBLE CHANGES IN
AFTERNOON PACKAGE WILL BE TO CARRY MENTION OF NEAR AND/OR RECORD
HIGH TEMPERATURES INTO FRIDAY. WILL ALSO REVIEW THE EXTENDED
GUIDANCE IN FURTHER DETAIL TO SEE IF MENTION OF AFTERNOON TSTMS OVER
MOUNTAINS SHOULD BE DROPPED OR CONTINUED.

.SAN...NONE.

BALFOUR

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, W Riverside T X Nw

When: August 14, 12:30 PM PST to 1:00 PM PST
Where: W Riverside T X Nw forecast zone
Measured: 48 kt (55 mph)
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

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

Every storm in California in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in California, August 2001

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: 5263068.