Name: High Wind in California, December 18, 2001
Start: 2001-12-18T09:00
End: 2001-12-18T11:00
Location: California

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 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 Eureka, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 18, 9:00 AM PST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 18, 9:00 AM PST, 0 minutes before

NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EUREKA CA
900 AM PST TUE DEC 18 2001

TODAY/TONIGHT...INITIAL BAND OF PRECIP NOW MOVING INLAND BRINGING A
MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW TO THE INTERIOR MOUNTAINS BELOW 3500 FT.  THE
NEXT BAND JUST OFF THE OREGON BORDER LOOKS MORE IMPRESSIVE AND
WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF RAWS TEMPS RELYING ON SPOTTERS TO PROVIDE A
SENSE OF SNOW LEVELS. ATTM LOOKS LIKE 3-4K A GOOD BET FOR THE FREEZE
LEVEL...BUT LITTLE ACCUMULATION EXPECTED AS DIURNAL RISE WILL
PROVIDE RAPID MELTING. ABOVE 4K EXPECT SNOW TO STICK BUT QPF SUGGEST
LESS THAN WSW CRITERIA SO WILL JUST CONTINUE WITH A RANGE OF 3-5
INCHES.   ELSEWHERE EXPECTING SOME DECENT RAINFALL AND GUSTY WINDS
THROUGHOUT THE DAY. WILL SEE A BREAK TONIGHT BEFORE THE NEXT SYSTEM
MOVES IN TOMORROW.

WED...A DEEPENING SURFACE LOW NEAR 40N 130W ON WED MORNING WILL
DRIFT ESEWD TOWARDS THE MENDOCINO COAST ON WED NIGHT. AVN SEEMS
TO BE THE CHOICE MODEL HANDLING THIS SYSTEM AS ETA SEEMS WAY TOO
WEAK. THE 12Z AVN IS EVEN LOWER ON THE SFC PRESS THAN THE PREVIOUS
RUN SO ATTM CONSIDERING A HIGH WIND WATCH FOR THE NORTH COAST ZONE
FOR WED AND HAVE RAISED A GALE FOR THE MARINE ZONES.  THE UPR LVL
LOW CUTS OFF AND INCREASES THE SOUTHERLY FLOW INTO THE CWA AS A N/S
ORIENTED FRONTAL BAND PUSHES ONSHORE. THIS SHOULD PROVIDE ENOUGH
SNOW TO THE COASTAL AND INTERIOR MTNS TO JUSTIFY A WSW...WITH
FREEZING LEVELS REMAINING AROUND 3500 FT.

BEYOND WED...MODELS CONTINUING TO SHOW A DRYING TREND BEGINNING AS EARLY
AS THU WITH A SLIGHT DEPRESSION ROLLING THROUGH LATE FRI WHICH MAY BRING
SOME RAIN BUT BY SAT MRF AMPLIFIES A 5H RIDGE ACROSS THE NW
COAST BEYOND XMAS.

CEC 77687 ACV/EKA 67687 UKI 14688

.EKA...GALE WARNING TODAY AND WED PT ST GEORGE TO CAPE MENDOCINO OUT
60NM.
...GALE WARNING WED CAPE MENDOCINO TO PT ARENA OUT 60NM.

TONKIN

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Redwood Coast

When: December 18, 9:00 AM PST to 11:00 AM PST
Where: Redwood Coast forecast zone
Measured: 51 kt (59 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

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

More

Every storm in California in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in California, December 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: 5275814.