High Wind in California, January 30 to 31, 2001

Name: High Wind in California, January 30 to 31, 2001
Start: 2001-01-30T07:00
End: 2001-01-31T23:59
Location: California

January 30 to 31, 2001 · NWS SGX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A camper shell was blown off of a pickup truck traveling on Interstate 15 near the Fontana-Rancho Cucamonga border. A 19 year old male inside the camper shell was injured.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 1
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 SGX wrote it up.

A camper shell was blown off of a pickup truck traveling on Interstate 15 near the Fontana-Rancho Cucamonga border. A 19 year old male inside the camper shell was injured. A passing vehicle struck the camper, which in turn struck the pickup truck driver who was moving toward it to rescue the occupant. The driver was killed by the impact. Sustained winds between 40 and 45 mph were reported at the Rialto Airport shortly after the time of the accident.

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 Jan 30, 3:30 AM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 30, 3:30 AM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
330 AM PST TUE JAN 30 2001

                             ...SYNOPSIS...

SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING OVER THE GREAT BASIN WILL CAUSE LOCAL
GUSTY WINDS THROUGH AND BELOW MOUNTAIN CANYONS AND PASSES LATER TODAY
INTO THURSDAY. OTHERWISE...UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE NEAR THE WEST COAST
WILL KEEP THE WEATHER FAIR.

                            ...DISCUSSION...

SCT LOW CLOUDS NEAR THE COAST EARLY THIS MORNING...OTHERWISE JUST A FEW
HI CLOUDS. 00Z NKX SOUNDING STILL SHOWED LOW LEVEL MOISTURE BUT HAD DRY
WLY WINDS ALOFT. COLUMN CONTINUED TO WARM ABOVE 850 MB. GRADIENTS
TRENDING OFFSHORE WITH -3 MB SAN-TPH.

MODELS CONTINUE TO BUILD SHARP RIDGE ALONG W COAST AS TROUGH DIGS BACK
INTO NRN MEX BY WED. SURFACE HI BUILDS INTO NV TODAY AND SHIFTS INTO UT
BY WED. OFFSHORE GRADIENTS INCREASE DURING THE DAY TODAY AND SOME
THERMAL SUPPORT FOR OFFSHORE WINDS BUT NOT THE BEST UPPER SUPPORT UNTIL
WED INTO THU. LOCAL OBJECTIVE SYSTEM INDICATES ADVISORY STRENGTH WINDS
INTO SNA MOUNTAINS AND BELOW CAJON BY LATE THIS MORNING. WILL ISSUE WIND
ADVISORY FOR THESE AREAS. WINDS WILL INCREASE AND BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD
BY WED AM AND WILL PROBABLY NEED MORE ADVISORIES ALONG WITH WIND
WARNINGS IN THE FAVORED AREAS WED INTO THU. THIS WILL START OUT AS A
COLD OFFSHORE FLOW SO EXPECT ONLY A LITTLE WARMING W OF MOUNTAINS BUT
CAA WILL KEEP MOUNTAINS/DESERTS ON THE COOL TO COLD SIDE TODAY/WED.
GENERALLY CLEAR SKIES. CLEAR SKIES AND LOWER DEW POINTS WILL ALLOW GOOD
RADIATIONAL COOLING TONIGHT IN AREAS PROTECTED FROM WIND.

LONGER RANGE PROGS INDICATE OFFSHORE FLOW WILL CONTINUE INTO THU WHEN WE
SHOULD FINALLY GET MORE WARMING W OF MOUNTAINS. BIG DIFFERENCES IN
MODELS BY EARLY NEXT WEEK BOTH FROM RUN TO RUN AND FROM EACH OTHER. WILL
NOT MAKE ANY MAJOR CHANGES IN EXTENDED FOR NOW.

SAN 000

.SAN...WIND ADVISORY...SEE LAXNPWSAN.

ATKIN

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Ne Orange

When: January 30, 7:00 AM PST to January 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Ne Orange forecast zone
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 33.483, -116.847 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, X Sw San Bernardino

When: January 31, 12:50 AM PST to 8:40 AM PST
Where: X Sw San Bernardino forecast zone
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 34.293, -116.086 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
High Wind, X Sw San Bernardino	2001-01-31	47	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

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

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: 5229076, 5229075.