Name: High Wind in California, February 24, 2001
Start: 2001-02-24T10:30
End: 2001-02-24T15:14
Location: California

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 STO wrote it up.

South winds accelerated to just over 40 mph.

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 Sacramento, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 24, 9:30 AM PST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 24, 9:30 AM PST, 1 hour before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
930 AM PST SAT FEB 24 2001

...DELAYED DUE TO COMPUTER PROBLEM...

RADAR SHOWS PRECIPITATION AREA FROM THE NORTHERN COASTAL MOUNTAINS TO
THE SOUTHERN FOOTHILLS OF THE SIERRA NEVADA...WITH SURFACE
OBSERVATIONS REPORTING LIGHT RAIN/SNOW OVER ENTIRE AREA. SNOW LEVEL
IS AROUND 3000 FEET WITH SNOW/RAIN MIX AS LOW AS 2000 FEET. BACK EDGE
OF PRECIPITATION AREA IS MOVING EAST AT 40 KNOTS AND HAS REACHED THE
COAST NORTH OF THE BAY AREA WEST OF UKIAH. LAKE COUNTY IS
EXPERIENCING SPOTTY HEAVY SNOW WITH 8 TO 9 INCHES OF NEW SNOW SINCE
LAST NIGHT...ELSEWHERE PRECIPITATIONS AMOUNTS HAVE BEEN RATHER LIGHT.
WINDS ARE CLOSE TO ADVISORY CRITERIA IN THE VALLEY AND WILL POSSIBLY
ISSUED WIND ADVISORY FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE DAY. SNOW ADVISORY FOR
THE COASTAL RANGE FOR THIS MORNING WILL BE ALLOWED TO EXPIRE. WILL
UPDATE FORECAST TO REFLECT CHANGES. PFJ

.STO...SNOW ADVY TDA AND TNGT FOR THE INTERIOR COAST RANGE AND NRN
        MTNS OF SHASTA COUNTY.
       SNOW ADVY TDA FOR THE WEST SLOPES OF THE SIERRA NEVADA NORTH
        OF YOSEMITE INCLUDING LASSEN NP AND WESTERN PLUMAS COUNTY.
       SNOW ADVY FOR THIS MORNING FOR SOUTHWESTERN SHASTA AND
        NORTHERN LAKE COUNTIES.

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, San Joaquin T Nw/Stanislaus/X Sw Tuolumne/Sw Calaveras

When: February 24, 10:30 AM PST to 3:14 PM PST
Where: San Joaquin T Nw/Stanislaus/X Sw Tuolumne/Sw Calaveras forecast zone
Measured: 41 kt (47 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Yolo T W/Ne Solano/Sacramento T X Sw/X W Placer/X W Amador/S Sutter

When: February 24, 10:30 AM PST to 3:14 PM PST
Where: Yolo T W/Ne Solano/Sacramento T X Sw/X W Placer/X W Amador/S Sutter forecast zone
Measured: 37 kt (43 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

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, February 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: 5231239, 5231240.