Moderate to strong Santa Ana winds affected most of Southwest California. Trees, power lines, and signs were toppled.
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.
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 episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.
Moderate to strong Santa Ana winds affected most of Southwest California. Trees, power lines, and signs were toppled. Two constructions workers were injured when a 20 foot brick wall they were working next to collapsed. A driver was injured when his semi-tractor trailer rig was overturned. Several major Interstate Freeways were closed to high profile vehicles until the winds subsided. Power outages affected about 40,000 customers.
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 Dec 7, 9:30 AM PST, 20 minutes earlier.
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 930 AM PST FRI DEC 7 2001 .SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT AND OFFSHORE FLOW WILL BRING MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES WITH SUNNY WARM DAYS THROUGH SATURDAY. LOCAL STRONG GUSTY WINDS THROUGH AND BELOW MOUNTAIN CANYONS AND PASSES INTO SATURDAY. A PACIFIC STORM WILL MOVE THROUGH RAPIDLY LATE SUNDAY AND EARLY MONDAY BRINGING MORE CLOUDS...COOLING AND A CHANCE OF SHOWERS. DRY AND GRADUALLY WARMER TOWARD THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK BUT ANOTHER STORM COULD MOVE THROUGH TOWARD THE END OF NEXT WEEK. .DISCUSSION...WINDS STARTING TO PICK UP NEAR MOUNTAIN CANYONS/PASSES THIS AM. CLEAR SKIES OVER CWFA. 12Z NKX SOUNDING SHOWED GENERALLY LIGHT NE WINDS BELOW 400 MB AND HAD GOOD WARMING BELOW 650 MB. OFFSHORE GRADIENTS AND TRENDS FROM N WITH ABOUT -12 MB SAN-TPH. SURFACE HI MOVES OVER THE GREAT BASIN AND STRENGTHENS TODAY INTO EARLY SAT. RELATIVELY WEAK UPPER WIND SUPPORT BUT SOME THERMAL SUPPORT FOR OFFSHORE WINDS AND CURRENT WIND ADVISORIES LOOK GOOD. MAY NEED WIND WARNINGS FOR INLAND EMPIRE AND SNA MOUNTAINS OVERNIGHT. SHOULD START TO GET INCREASING HI CLOUDS SAT AFTERNOON INTO SUNDAY...OTHERWISE SUNNY WARM DAYS W OF MOUNTAINS TODAY/SAT. WEAK CAA WILL MODERATE WARMING IN MOUNTAINS/DESERTS. UPPER AND THERMAL SUPPORT FOR WINDS DECREASES SAT SO WINDS SHOULD GRADUALLY DECREASE DURING THE AFTERNOON. RAPIDLY MOVING TROUGH APPROACHING FROM THE NW NOT HANDLED VERY WELL BY MODELS. LOOKS LIKE IT SHOULD BE MUCH COOLER SUNDAY WITH INCREASING CLOUDS. MOISTURE LIMITED SO JUST CHANCE OF SHOWERS MOST AREAS LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON INTO MONDAY AM. SNOW LEVEL SHOULD LOWER TO NEAR 5000 FT. COULD BE ENOUGH COLD AIR ALOFT FOR THUNDERSTORMS...BUT WILL LEAVE OUT OF FORECAST FOR NOW. GUSTS WINDS WITH TROUGH...MAINLY MOUNTAINS/DESERTS. COULD GO BRIEFLY OFFSHORE AFTER TROUGH PASSAGE MON FOR RAPIDLY CLEARING SKIES BUT CONTINUED COOL. LONGER RANGE PROGS GENERALLY INDICATE DRY NW FLOW ALOFT WITH GRADUALLY WARMING AIR MASS TUE-THU. ANOTHER TROUGH APPROACHES FRI FOR INCREASING CLOUDS...COOLING AND CHANCE OF SHOWERS. .SAN...WIND ADVISORIES...SEE LAXNPWSAN. ATKIN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 2001
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: 5274833, 5274834, 5274835, 5274836, 5274837.