Funnel Cloud, San Diego
- When
- February 17, 1:22 PM PST
- Where
- San Diego County, 5 mi W of (Crq)palomar Arpt Ca
- Reported by
- AIRPLANE PILOT
- Coordinates
- 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Funnel Cloud in California, February 17, 2002
Two funnel clouds were observed, one was five miles west of the Encino Power plant, the other 2 miles further to the south.
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
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.
Two funnel clouds were observed, one was five miles west of the Encino Power plant, the other 2 miles further to the south.
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 Feb 17, 9:15 AM PST, 4 hours 7 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 17, 9:15 AM PST, 4 hours 7 minutes before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 915 AM PST SUN FEB 17 2002 .SYNOPSIS...A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE MOVING ACROSS CALIFORNIA WILL BRING COOL WEATHER AND LIGHT SHOWERS AT TIMES THROUGH TONIGHT. A WARMING TREND WILL DEVELOP MIDWEEK AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. .DISCUSSION...STEADY RAIN WAS MOVING ACROSS ORANGE COUNTY AND THE INLAND EMPIRE THIS MORNING AND WILL MOVE ACROSS SAN DIEGO COUNTY THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON. RAINFALL AMOUNTS FROM ONE-TENTH TO ONE-QUARTER INCH HAVE FALLEN IN ORANGE COUNTY...WITH UP TO ONE-HALF INCH IN THE MTNS OF ORANGE COUNTY AND SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY. SNOW LEVELS WERE NEAR 6000 FEET THIS MORNING...AND WILL FALL THROUGHOUT THE DAY. ONCE THIS BAND OF STEADY PRECIP MOVES EAST...THE PRECIP WILL TURN MORE SHOWERY. CAA AND CYCLONIC FLOW ALOFT WILL KEEP THE ATMOSPHERE FAIRLY UNSTABLE THROUGH TONIGHT FOR A CONTINUED CHANCE FOR SHOWERS. ON MONDAY THE BROAD TROF RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RAIN WILL MOVE EAST AND ANY LINGERING SHOWERS SHOULD END IN THE MORNING AS WE TRANSITION FROM CYCLONIC FLOW TO ANTICYCLONIC. ON TUESDAY A WEAK SHORTWAVE IN THE FAST WESTERLY FLOW WILL BRING OCCASIONAL HIGH CLOUDS BUT NO PRECIP. THEN A HIGH AMPLITUDE WEST COAST RIDGE DEVELOPS WEDNESDAY FOR MUCH WARMER WEATHER THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. CURRENT FCST LOOKS GOOD. NO UPDATES AT THIS TIME. .SAN...HIGH SURF STATEMENT...SEE MWSSAN. MOEDE
The radar
The San Diego radar (KNKX), 28 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:20 UTC.
Event by event
1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Funnel Cloud
- A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Winter Weather in Vermont, February 17, 2002
- Winter Storm in Colorado, February 17 to 19, 2002
- Winter Weather in New York, February 17, 2002
- Heavy Snow in West Virginia, February 17, 2002
- Heavy Snow in North Carolina, February 17, 2002
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, February 17, 2002
- Dust Storm in California, February 17, 2002
- Winter Storm in Utah, February 17 to 19, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, February 17 to 18, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Nevada, February 17 to 18, 2002
More
Every storm in California in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 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: 5283586.