California, 2001

Dense Fog in California, August 25, 2001

August 25, 2001 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The driver of a Sport Utility Vehicle missed a curve while driving along a winding dirt road in the hills near San Marcos and plunged 300 feet down the hillside. All four occupants were injured and the vehicle destroyed.

Where it happened

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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.

What happened

The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.

The driver of a Sport Utility Vehicle missed a curve while driving along a winding dirt road in the hills near San Marcos and plunged 300 feet down the hillside. All four occupants were injured and the vehicle destroyed. Dense fog was present and hampered search and rescue efforts for several hours later.

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 25, 2:30 AM PST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 25, 2:30 AM PST, 30 minutes before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
330 AM PDT SAT AUG 25 2001

                             ...SYNOPSIS...
HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL BRING A WARMING TREND THROUGH THE WEEKEND.
A SHALLOW MARINE LAYER WILL BRING SOME NIGHT AND MORNING LOW CLOUDS
AND DENSE FOG TO COASTAL SECTIONS. OTHERWISE...LIMITED MOISTURE
ALOFT WILL KEEP THE SKIES CLEAR.

                            ...DISCUSSION...
HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE WILL BUILD EASTWARD ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
THROUGH THE WEEKEND. 500 MB HEIGHTS AT OR ABOVE 5940 METERS THROUGH
MONDAY AND PERHAPS BEYOND. WARMING OF 2-3 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT PER DAY
EXPECTED BASED ON THICKNESS CHANGES AND GENERALLY CLEAR SKIES.
ADJUSTED MAX TEMPERATURE FORECASTS PUTS RECORDS FOR SUNDAY WITHIN
REACH DUE TO A RELATIVE COOL SPOT IN THE CLIMATOLOGIC RECORDS. CHOSE
NOT TO HEADLINE. ALSO NOTICED AVN MOS GUIDANCE LOWERS MAX TEMPS A
COUPLE DEGREES ON SUNDAY THEN RECOVERS THIS DROP ON MONDAY...NOT
SURE WHY SINCE THICKNESSES RISE OR CONTINUE UNCHANGED TODAY THROUGH
MONDAY. AS FOR COASTAL LOW CLOUDS...WEAK EDDY CIRCULATION EVIDENT IN
SATELLITE IMAGERY CENTERED NEAR SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND. DAY SHIFTS
REASONING ON STRONGER INVERSION DUE TO SUBSIDENCE CAUSING LINGERING
CLOUDS ALONG BEACHES REASONABLE SO LEFT IN. DROPPED MENTION OF
DESERT WINDS AS PRESSURE GRADIENTS FAIRLY WEAK/NOT FORECAST TO
STRENGTHEN...AND 850-700 MB WINDS DIRECTION AND STRENGTH ARE NOT
FAVORABLE FOR INCREASING DOWNSLOPE COMPONENT.

FOR TUESDAY THROUGH NEXT FRIDAY THE ECMWF AND MRF/AVN MODELS ARE
SIMILAR AND WEAKEN THE RIDGE BY MOVING A PAIR OF STRONG SHORT WAVES
ACROSS THE GULF OF ALASKA AND AN UPPER LOW FROM THE SW GULF OF
MEXICO TO WEST OF THE S BAJA PENINSULA. THEY MAY BE OVERDOING THE
NORTHERN STREAM. CANADIAN MODEL SHOWS HEIGHTS BARELY DROPPING BELOW
5460 METERS OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA WHICH LEAVES THE RIDGE OVER THE
WESTERN UNITED STATES INTACT ESSENTIALLY UNCHANGED.

.SAN...NONE.

BALFOUR

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.

Dense Fog, San Diego County Coasts

When
August 25, 3:00 AM PST to 6:00 AM PST
Where
San Diego County Coasts forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Dense Fog
Fog reducing visibility to a quarter mile or less, filed where it caused accidents or disruption.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5263070.