Santa Ana winds began on the morning of 2/9/02, they diminished slightly during the following night, but then increased in strength the following morning, peaking around midday on 2/10/02. Three semi-tractor trailer rigs were blown over on Interstates 15, 215 and 8 the first day, and another that night.
Every event with a place to put it; 16 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.
Santa Ana winds began on the morning of 2/9/02, they diminished slightly during the following night, but then increased in strength the following morning, peaking around midday on 2/10/02. Three semi-tractor trailer rigs were blown over on Interstates 15, 215 and 8 the first day, and another that night. These blocked most of the traffic lanes in both directions and could not be cleared until the following afternoon due to the strong winds. Blowing dust and sand further disrupted traffic by reducing visibility to near zero and sandblasting windshields. Signs, trees, power poles, and fences were blown down in many communities. The roofs of several houses were damaged. Twelve million pounds of avocado were blown off of trees in north San Diego County. The high winds also caused the numerous brush fires, started by downed power lines, to grow rapidly in the high winds. One that began in the Santa Ana Mountains west of Corona, spread quickly westward, jumped a highway, and burned 2400 acres before containment. Only a few outbuildings were damaged. Another wildfire, just south of the U.S. border, in eastern Tijuana, killed a 20 year old woman and destroyed 50 houses. The largest wild fire, named the Gavilan Fire, consumed 5783 acres between Fallbrook and Camp Pendleton before it could be contained three days later. It destroyed 44 houses, 40 vehicles (including two fire engines), 49 outbuildings; caused structural damage to 14 houses; and injured 12 residents and 7 fire fighters. Several avocado orchards, containing thousands of trees, were destroyed.
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 9, 3:30 AM PST, 4 hours earlier.
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 330 AM PST SAT FEB 9 2002 .SYNOPSIS...SANTA ANA CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THIS WEEKEND WITH GUSTY WINDS IN THE INLAND VALLEYS AND MOUNTAINS PASSES...AND WARM DAYTIME TEMPERATURES WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS. THESE SANTA ANA CONDITIONS WILL END MONDAY...AND ONSHORE FLOW WILL BRING COOLER WEATHER THROUGH NEXT FRIDAY. .DISCUSSION...MODELS STILL SEEM OVERDONE IN BUILDING A +1050 MB SURFACE HIGH...BUT SHOW THE CENTER CLOSER TO EAST SIDE OF THE ROCKIES WHERE ARCTIC AIR MASS MIGHT EVENTUALLY BE PULLED SOUTHWARD BY THE DEVELOPING LOW OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST. STILL EXPECTING A SUMMERLIKE PATTERN OVER SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH HEIGHTS ABOVE 5820 METERS. MESOETA SURFACE PRESSURE PATTERN HINTS AT A THERMAL TROUGH NEAR THE COAST AND MOS GUIDANCE FOR BOTH THE NGM AND AVN MODELS HAVE TONED DOWN THE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES. AS MENTIONED EARLIER...UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT IS NOT FAVORABLE SO MICROSCALE/DIURNAL EFFECTS WILL BE JUST AS CRITICAL IN DETERMINING IF OFFSHORE FLOW ALOFT REACHES SURFACE. WIND ADVISORIES WERE ISSUED EARLIER AND THOUGH NOT YET VERIFYING...TREND SHOWN BY VAD WINDS/ACARS SOUNDINGS/AND METARS/RAWS OBSERVATIONS NEAR OR ABOVE 1500 FEET MSL SUPPORTIVE...BUT AS OF 310 AM ONLY A HANDFUL OF REPORTS WITH WIND GUSTS AT OR ABOVE 30 MPH AND STILL HAVE ONSHORE PRESSURE GRADIENTS ACROSS SAN DIEGO COUNTY WITH PATCHY FOG BEING REPORTED AT CHINO AND OCEANSIDE. WILL CONTINUE MOST ADVISORIES FOR NOW RATHER THAN DROP AND REISSUE LATER TODAY. AS FOR TEMPERATURES...WILL SHOW A BROADER RANGE OVER COASTAL ZONES TO ACCOUNT FOR MODERATING EFFECT OF SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES IN THE MID 50S. WILL ADJUST OTHER ZONES TEMPERATURE RANGES SLIGHTLY DOWNWARD. MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS EXPECTED TO BE SLIGHTLY COOLER TODAY DUE TO MID LEVEL COLD AIR ADVECTION OVERCOMING WARMING FROM INCREASED SUBSIDENCE ALOFT. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE MADE IN SUNDAY NIGHT/MONDAY FORECASTS STILL COULD BE BREEZY/WINDY OVER PARTS OF FORECAST AREA. LEFT TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY FORECAST OF PARTLY CLOUDY/COOLER TEMPERATURES INTACT. MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON OVERALL SYNOPTIC PATTERN CHANGING FROM RIDGE TO TROUGH. GUIDANCE POPS FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY ARE AROUND 20 PERCENT. HOWEVER NOT MENTIONING PRECIPITATION YET SINCE LOW/MID LEVELS WILL TAKE QUITE AWHILE TO REMOISTEN AFTER THIS PROLONGED PERIOD OF OFFSHORE FLOW. .SAN...WIND ADVISORY CAZ043-048-057-058 THROUGH 11 AM PST SUNDAY. BALFOUR
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
11 wildfire, 6 high wind, 2 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2002
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: 5283589, 5283681, 5283698, 5283682, 5283697, 5283683, 5283684, 5283685, 5283686, 5283687, 5283688, 5283696, 5283689, 5283690, 5283691, 5283692, 5283693, 5283695, 5283694.