Flood in California, April 26, 2002

Name: Flood in California, April 26, 2002
Start: 2002-04-26T14:30
End: 2002-04-26T14:30
Location: California

April 26, 2002 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Rain triggered a mudslide along Highway 38 that sent basketball size rocks into a Ford Explorer. None of the vehicle occupants were injured.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $25,000
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 SGX wrote it up.

Rain triggered a mudslide along Highway 38 that sent basketball size rocks into a Ford Explorer. None of the vehicle occupants were injured.

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 Apr 26, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 26, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
230 PM PDT FRI APR 26 2002

.SYNOPSIS...THE FIRST OF TWO LATE SEASON FRONTAL SYSTEMS WILL MOVE
SLOWLY THROUGH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...WITH
A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS THROUGH INTO SATURDAY NIGHT.  BY SUNDAY THE
SECOND SYSTEM WILL BEGIN TO EFFECT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA...WITH A CHANCE
OF RAIN SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.  THE SNOW LEVEL IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN
NEAR 6500 FEET. UNSETTLED WEATHER WILL CONTINUE INTO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT
WEEK.  BY WEDNESDAY HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE IN FOR DRY AND WARMER
CONDITIONS THROUGH FRIDAY.

.DISCUSSION...THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL LOWS CONTINUES TO
LIFT NORTHEAST...TAKING WITH IT MOST OF ITS MAIN REGION OF UPWARD
FORCING.  ANOTHER REGION OF LIFT IS OVER POINT CONCEPTION...AND SHOULD
SWEEP THROUGH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THIS EVENING.  THIS WILL KEEP THE
SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE FORECAST.  THIS STORM MOVES EAST AND
DEEPEN TO A RATHER WICKED 990 MIDWEST LOW BY SUNDAY.

BACK HERE IN THE WEST...THE CURRENT THINKING IS FOR CYCLONIC FLOW AND A
DEEP MOIST LAYER FOR A CONTINUED SLIGHT CHANCE THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT.
BY SUNDAY...THE NEXT LOW BEGINS TO INFLUENCE THE AREA.  WE WILL UP THE
POPS TO CHANCE FOR SUNDAY AS THE LOW SETTLES INTO A POSITION JUST OFF
THE COAST. CONFIDENCE IS NOT THE BEST...SINCE WE ARE DEALING WITH A
FICKLE UPPER LOW.  OUR POSITION IS TO GO WITH IMPULSES MOVING THROUGH
WITH THE MOIST LAYER REMAINING DEEP...AND A CHANCE OF RAIN FROM THE
SECOND SYSTEM SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.  THE LOW IS EXPECTED TO LIFT
NORTHEAST TUESDAY NIGHT...WITH RIDGING WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.

AS FOR RAIN AMOUNTS WITH THE NEXT SYSTEM...IS LOOKS LIKE AMOUNTS IN OUR
NECK OF THE WOODS WILL BE LESS THAN AMOUNTS SEEN WITH THE CURRENT
SYSTEM...WHICH BY THE WAY...DID NOT IMPRESS ANYONE.

GENERALLY WINDY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS
THROUGH TUESDAY...WITH GENERAL WEAKENING BY WEDNESDAY.

.SAN...NONE.

SMALL

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, San Bernardino

When: April 26, 2:30 PM PST
Where: San Bernardino County, Forest Falls
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.841, -116.178 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in California, April 2002

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: 5289271.