Name: Dust Storm in California, March 13, 2002
Start: 2002-03-13T11:00
End: 2002-03-13T13:00
Location: California

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 6
Property damage: $60,000
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 Las Vegas, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 13, 10:29 AM PST, 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 13, 10:29 AM PST, 31 minutes before

MOJAVE DESERT/SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
1029 AM PST WED MAR 13 2002

SYNOPSIS...DANGEROUSLY STRONG WINDS WILL DOMINATE THE MOJAVE DESERT
AND SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN TODAY IN ASSOCIATION WITH A VIGOROUS COLD
FRONT. BEHIND THE FRONT...TEMPERATURES WILL COOL SIGNIFICANTLY WITH
HIGH TEMPERATURES THURSDAY AND FRIDAY ABOUT 8-10 DEGREES BELOW
NORMAL.

DISCUSSION...NOT MUCH TIME FOR DISCUSSION THIS MORNING. SURFACE
PRESSURE GRADIENT RNO-LAS=14.6MB AND LAX-LAS=13.6MB - YIELDING
STEADY WINDS IN THE 40-50 MPH RANGE ACROSS THE HIGH DESERT AND 35-45
MPH BEHIND THE COLD FRONT. PRESSURE AND THERMAL GRADIENTS FORECAST
TO INTENSIFY NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. GOOD MIXING ALREADY OCCURRING AHEAD
OF THE COLD FRONT. DEEP SUBSIDENCE AND STRONG COLD ADVECTION WILL
MIX DOWN SOME HIGHER MOMENTUM BEHIND IT FOR A FEW HOURS AFTER FROPA.

DAG OBS AND SPOTTER REPORTS HAVE CONFIRMED HIGH WIND WARNING
VERIFICATION ACROSS SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY ALREADY THIS MORNING.

RED ROCK AND KYLE CANYON GUSTING IN THE LOW 40S AND WINDS STARTING
TO PICK UP ELSEWHERE IN SRN NV ON THE MESONET. UPGRADED THE WIND
ADVISORY TO HIGH WIND WARNING FOR EXTREME SRN NV AND NW AZ...AND
EXTENDED HIGH WIND WARNING OVER SE CA TO 9 PM. ALSO PUT UP A WIND
ADVISORY FOR CENTRAL NV ZONES AND FOR OWENS VALEY DUE TO STRONG NW
GRADIENT AND COLD ADVECTION.

BRIEF LOOK AT 12Z ETA/AVN SUGGESTS DEEP POSITIVE TILT TROUGH WILL
PERSIST OVER THE WEST INTO THE WEEKEND. MRF/ECMWF CONSISTENT IN
DEVELOPING CLOSED LOW MOVING DOWN THE COAST SAT/SUN KEEPING THINGS
COOL AND UNSETTLED INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.

RUNK

.LAS...A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF SE CA, SRN NV,
AND NW AZ UNTIL 9 PM PST. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR ERN CA
AND CNTRL NV UNTIL 7 PM PST. SEE LATEST STATEMENTS FOR DETAILS.

Event by event

1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Dust Storm, San Bernardino T Sw & X Se

When: March 13, 11:00 AM PST to 1:00 PM PST
Where: San Bernardino T Sw & X Se forecast zone
Injuries: 6 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $60,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Strong winds over 50 mph caused visibilities to drop to near zero on Interstate 15 near Yermo. These low visibilities caused two seven-car pile-ups, injuring several people. The interstate was closed for an hour due to the low visibilities and damaged vehicles. Power lines were also blown down in Barstow creating power outages for about 2,800 people.

What these are

Dust Storm: Blowing dust that reduced visibility to a quarter mile or less.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in California, March 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: 5284516.