Damaging Wind in California, August 18, 2002

Name: Damaging Wind in California, August 18, 2002
Start: 2002-08-18T22:58
End: 2002-08-18T22:58
Location: California

August 18, 2002 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Gust front knocked down several power lines. Dust raised by the wind reduced visibility to less than a mile in the Coachella Valley.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: 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 SGX wrote it up.

Gust front knocked down several power lines. Dust raised by the wind reduced visibility to less than a mile in the Coachella Valley.

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 Aug 18, 10:20 PM PST, 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 18, 10:20 PM PST, 38 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
1120 PM PDT SUN AUG 18 2002

UPDATED OUTFLOW BOUNDARY WIND FORECAST FOR THE EASTERN DESERTS

.SYNOPSIS...A LOW PRESSURE TROUGH WILL DEVELOP OVER THE WEST THIS
WEEK RESULTING IN BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES ACROSS SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA. THIS TROUGH WILL ALSO KEEP THE MARINE LAYER FAIRLY
DEEP...WITH EXTENSIVE NIGHT AND MORNING CLOUDS WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS
EACH DAY. STRONGER ONSHORE GRADIENTS WILL PRODUCE GUSTY AFTERNOON
WINDS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS.

.DISCUSSION...THE MARINE LAYER KEPT ON DEEPENING OVER THE PAST 24
HOURS AND THE COASTAL CLOUDS SPREAD FARTHER INLAND THIS MORNING THAN
YESTERDAY. THE 00Z NKX SOUNDING SHOWED THE MARINE LAYER WAS 2900
FEET SUNDAY EVENING...COMPARED TO 2300 FEET SATURDAY EVENING. MORE
DRIZZLE IS LIKELY TONIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING WEST OF THE MTNS...AND
PROBABLY FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL MORNINGS AS A LOW PRESSURE TROUGH
DEVELOPS OVER THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST. THIS TROUGH WONT MOVE MUCH
THIS WEEK...AND THEREFORE THE MARINE LAYER WILL REMAIN QUITE DEEP
WITH COASTAL CLOUDS REACHING ALL THE WAY TO THE WESTERN MTN SLOPES.

CLEARING WILL BE SLOW IN THE COASTAL AREAS...AND SOME COASTAL
COMMUNITIES MAY NOT CLEAR AT ALL MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY WITH THE
STRONG INVERSION ALOFT. BETTER CLEARING IS POSSIBLE LATER IN THE
WEEK WHEN COOLING ALOFT WEAKENS THE INVERSION. EVEN THE MTNS AND
DESERTS WILL BE BELOW AVERAGE WITH SEVERAL DEGREES OF COOLING
WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY DUE TO LOWER HTS AND THKNS AS THE UPPER
TROUGH SETTLES OVER THE WEST.

VERY IMPRESSIVE MCS FORMED OVER AZ THIS AFTERNOON WITH AN OUTFLOW
BOUNDARY MOVING ACROSS W AZ INTO SE CA. IR IMAGERY LOOP SHOWS
WARMING CLOUD TOPS BUT STRONG WINDS OUTFLOW BOUNDARY WINDS WERE
SWEEPING ACROSS IMPERIAL COUNTY AT 11 PM. BLYTHE REPORTED WINDS AT
32 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 38 MPH...AND EL CENTRO HAD SE WINDS AT 35 MPH
GUSTING TO 45 MPH REDUCING VISIBILITIES TO LESS THAN 1/2 MILE. THIS
OUTFLOW BOUNDARY AND ASSOCIATED GUSTY WINDS LOOKS LIKE IT NOW HAS A
CHANCE TO REACH THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY DESERTS AND THE COACHELLA
VALLEY TONIGHT.

ZONES WERE UPDATED ACCORDINGLY.

MOEDE

The radar

The San Diego radar (KNKX), 118 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:01 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Riverside

When: August 18, 10:58 PM PST
Where: Riverside County, Indio
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 33.733, -116.233

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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, August 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: 5309889.