Santa Ana winds gusted between 60 to 70 mph for several days across Southwest California. A semi-tractor trailer rig was blown over in Fontana.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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 gusted between 60 to 70 mph for several days across Southwest California. A semi-tractor trailer rig was blown over in Fontana. Blowing dust was reported in Temecula. A power pole was blown down at Pedley. A manufactured home being towed along Interstate 8 was blown over. The strong winds also fanned several small fires into 100 acre wildfires. Nearby homes were evacuated. In San Bernardino, one house was damaged and a few outlying structures were destroyed by the flames.
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 Jan 23, 3:25 AM PST, 3 hours 35 minutes earlier.
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 325 AM PST WED JAN 23 2002 .SYNOPSIS...MODERATE OFFSHORE FLOW WILL BRING GUSTY WINDS THROUGH AND BELOW PASSES AND CANYONS THROUGH THURSDAY...GRADUALLY WEAKENING THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. FAIR AND WARMER FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...THEN COOLER AND BREEZY SUNDAY AND MONDAY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS. .DISCUSSION...MDLS ARE IN REASONABLY GOOD AGREEMENT SYMOPTICALLY INTO THE WEEKEND WITH SOME DIFFERENCES IN HANDLING OF SHORTWAVES IN THE LATTER PART OF THE EXTENDED. CURRENT SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER OVR SAN/RIV COUNTY PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. MOST AREAS SHOULD BECOME MOSTLY SUNNY BY AFTERNOON SCP REMAINING PARTLY CLOUDY OVR THE MTNS. NLY/NELY FLOW SHOULD STRENGHTEN TODAY. NELY FLOW WL PK TONIGHT WITH WKR NELY/ELY FLOW CONTINUING THU NIGHT INTO FRI. WINDS WL INCR TO ADV LVLS THIS MORNING IN THE INLAND EMPIRE AND ADJ MTNS. WNDS... MAINLY GUSTS...COULD INCR TO THE LWR END OF HIGH WIND CRITERIA TONIGHT INTO FRI MORNING IN THE INLAND EMPIRE AND ADJ MTNS WITH STRONGEST WINDS THRU AND BLO CAJON PASS. GUSTS MAY REACH HIGH WND LVLS IN THE SNA MTNS. GUSTS COULD ALSO REACH HIGH WIND LVLS IN THE SAN COUNTY MTNS TONIGHT INTO FRI MORNING...BUT LESS LIKELY THAN AREAS TO THE NW. WNDS IN THE SAN COUNTY MTNS MAY BE NRLY AS STRONG THU NIGHT INTO FRI AS TONIGHT AND THU AS NELY FLOW BECOMES ELY. FRI/SAT SHOULD BE WARMER AS WK SHORTWAVE RDGG DEVELOPS OVR SW CA AND THE OFSHR FLOW WKNS DECRG LOW LVL COLD ADVECTION. MDLS ARE A LTL SLOWER WITH THE SYSTEM FOR THE WEEKEND WITH NO PRECIPITATION FOR SW CA BEFORE SUN. SOME SHOWERS COULD LINGER INTO MON. .SAN...WIND ADVISORIES AND HIGH WIND WATCH...SEE LAXNPWSAN. MARTIN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 high wind, 2 wildfire. 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, January 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: 5277647, 5277648, 5277652, 5277653, 5277649, 5277651, 5277650.