High Wind in California, February 9 to 10, 2002

Name: High Wind in California, February 9 to 10, 2002
Start: 2002-02-09T10:00
End: 2002-02-10T14:00
Location: California

February 9 to 10, 2002 · NWS LOX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

The toll

Deaths: 1
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 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 Los Angeles, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 9, 9:30 AM PST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 9, 9:30 AM PST, 30 minutes before

SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA
930 AM PST SAT FEB 9 2002

A LITTLE BEHIND THE CURVE AS WINDS PICKED UP AS EXPECTED BUT SLIGHTLY
EXCEEDED INITIAL FORECASTS...THUS HAD TO QUICKLY UPGRADE MTNS ZONE TO
HIGH WIND WARNINGS FROM PREVIOUS WIND ADVISORY.  WIND ADVISORIES
CONTINUE AS BEFORE THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING...EVEN AFTER NEW HIGH WIND
WARNINGS EXPIRE AT 2PM TODAY.

IMPRESSIVE SURFACE GRADIENTS WITH -15 MB PRESSURE CHANGE FROM LAX-DAG
WITH -14 MB CURRENT LAX-TPH GRADIENT.  THAT HAS GOT TO GET YOUR
ATTENTION AND IT IS NO WONDER EVEN WITH MINIMAL SUPPORT ALOFT THAT THE
WINDS HAVE EXCEEDED INITIAL EXPECTATIONS.  WILL CONTINUE WITH
WIND ADVISORIES FOR ZONES 40/44/45/46/47/53/54 THRU SUNDAY MORNING.

SURFACE GRADIENTS AND UPPER SUPPORT WEAKEN SUNDAY NIGHT/MONDAY...SO
OFFSHORE WINDS WILL DECREASE. WITH OFFSHORE WINDS...MARINE LAYER WILL
NOT BE A PROBLEM FOR COASTAL ZONES THROUGH MONDAY.

TEMPERATURE DISCUSSED APPROPRIATELY IN PREVIOUS AFD AND WILL NOT
REITERATE. WILL DISCUSS EXTENDED PORTION IN AFTERNOON AFD WHEN MORE
TIME IS AVAILABLE.

LAX 000. MCCLUNG

.LOX...HIGH WIND WARNING AND WIND ADVISORY (SEE LAXNPWLAX).
       SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY (SEE LAXCWFLAX).

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, S Ventura T X S

When: February 9, 10:00 AM PST to February 10, 2:00 PM PST
Where: S Ventura T X S forecast zone
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Strong and gusty santa ana winds developed across the interior valleys of Ventura county. Reports from spotters indicated northeast winds gusting between 50 and 70 mph. The strong winds knocked down numerous power lines and overturned a wooden bus stop structure in Moorpark. In Simi Valley, a man was killed when a 45 foot tree was knocked down and pinned him.

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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5283402.