Flood in California, January 10, 2001

Name: Flood in California, January 10, 2001
Start: 2001-01-10T09:30
End: 2001-01-10T13:30
Location: California

January 10, 2001 · NWS EKA · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An unusually high tide (at about 11:30 am) was caused by perigee of moon, extreme low barometric pressure (990 mb), prolonged south wind, and heavy surf. 01 feet from the Humboldt Bay record tide.

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 EKA wrote it up.

An unusually high tide (at about 11:30 am) was caused by perigee of moon, extreme low barometric pressure (990 mb), prolonged south wind, and heavy surf. Predicted high tide was 8.5 feet and actual tide was 9.87 feet, 0.01 feet from the Humboldt Bay record tide. Several block of the community of King Salmon was flooded with up to two feet of sea water.

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 Jan 10, 2:15 AM PST, 7 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 10, 2:15 AM PST, 7 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EUREKA CA
215 AM PST WED JAN 10 2001

MODELS APPEAR TO HAVE INITIALIZED BETTER THAN AVERAGE TONIGHT.
WHILE APPARENTLY MISSING STRONG VORT DIVING DOWN THE WEST SIDE
OF THE 40N/127W UPPER LOW THEY HAVE THE RIGHT IDEA IN REORGANIZING
THE LOW FARTHER SOUTH. SFO BAY LOOKS GOOD FOR ITS LOCATION LATE
TODAY BOTH SURFACE AND ALOFT. AM INCLINED TO ACCEPT THE MODELS
TONIGHT BUT MESOETA SHOWS SHOWERS ENDING NEAR THE COAST NORTH OF
CAPE MENDOCINO BEFORE SUNRISE...DISPUTING WHAT RADAR IS SHOWING.
IT LOOKS OVERDONE IN ITS OROGRAPHIC SINKING...ESPECIALLY DOWN
FROM THE KING RANGE INTO THE EKA AREA...THOUGH IT APPEARS TO BE
KILLING THE SHOWERS THERE NOW. LOW LEVEL OFFSHORE (DOWNSLOPE)
FLOW DOESN/T APPEAR STRONG ENOUGH TO END THESE SHOWERS. BUT WE
DO HAVE AN ADVECTION TREND CURRENTLY BRINGING IN DRIER AND MORE
STABLE AIR...AND THE DEEP UPWARD MOTION IN MODELS ENDS BY AFTERNOON.
SO DECREASING THE SHOWERS LOOKS THE WAY TO GO AND WILL DROP POPS
TO CHANCE/SCATTERED CATEGORY TONIGHT AND REMOVE THEIR MENTION BY
FRI. STRONG RIDGE MOVING INTO REGION LATE FRI IS CAUSING GREAT
DIFFICULTY FOR NEXT UPSTREAM SYSTEM TO BREAK THROUGH TO CAUSE
MORE RAIN. BELIEVE MODELS ARE CORRECT HERE TOO AND WILL REMOVE
CHANCE OF SHOWERS FOR WEEKEND. POPS CEC 620 EKA 630 UKI +61. GV

.EKA...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY PT ST GEORGE TO PT ARENA OUT 60 NM.
       HEAVY SURF ADVISORY OREGON BORDER TO GUALALA.

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Redwood Coast

When: January 10, 9:30 AM PST to 1:30 PM PST
Where: Redwood Coast forecast zone
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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, January 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: 5228159.