Name: Funnel Cloud in California, March 24, 2002
Start: 2002-03-24T05:40
End: 2002-03-24T05:40
Location: California

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

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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 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 Mar 24, 3:20 AM PST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 24, 3:20 AM PST, 2 hours 20 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
320 AM PST SUN MAR 24 2002

.SYNOPSIS...A BROAD TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE WEST WILL BEGIN
TO MOVE EAST TODAY AND MONDAY WITH GRADUAL DRYING ALONG AND WEST OF
THE MOUNTAINS. STRONG...GUSTY WINDS IN THE DESERTS WILL DIMINISH
TONIGHT. A LARGE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP OFF THE
CALIFORNIA COAST EARLY THIS WEEK...BUT MAY NOT MOVE INLAND ACROSS
SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA UNTIL LATE THURSDAY OR FRIDAY. UNTIL THEN...IT
WILL BE FAIR...DRY...AND WARMER.

.DISCUSSION...NUMEROUS SHOWERS CONTINUE ALONG AND WEST OF THE MTNS
EARLY THIS MORNING IN THE MOIST LOW LVL ONSHR CYCLONIC FLOW OVR SW
CA. THESE SHOWERS SHOULD DECR DURG THE MORNING. ONE LAST SHORTWAVE
DROPPING DOWN THE BACK SIDE OF THE UPR TROUGH CNTRD OVER THE
INTERIOR WEST WL BRUSH NRN SXNS OF THE FORECAST AREA TODAY. LIFT
ASSOCD WITH THIS SHORTWAVE COULD GENERATE A FEW ADDITIONAL SHOWERS
IN THE SBD/RIV COUNTY MTNS THRU EARLY AFTERNOON. WINDS TODAY IN THE
DESERTS WL INCR TO NR WND ADV LVLS WITH AREAS OF BLOWING SAND AND
DUST. GUSTS TO NEAR 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH MOUNTAIN WAVES...MAINLY
IN THE COACHELLA VALLEY. WINDS IN THE DESERTS SHOULD DROP OFF FAIRLY
QUICKLY OVERNIGHT. A FEW ISLAND EFFECT SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE
TONIGHT AND EARLY MON...MAINLY SAN DIEGO COUNTY AND MAINLY SRN SXNS
OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY. ABUNDANT LWR LVL MSTR WL REMAIN WEST OF THE
MTNS TONIGHT WITH THE HIGHER RESOLUTION MDLS DEVELOPING A WK CSTL
EDDY. WHETHER THIS MSTR MANIFESTS ITSELF IN THE FORM OF AREAS OF
LOW CLOUDS OR JUST PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES WL DEPEND ON TO WHAT DEGREE
A MARINE INVERSION IS ABLE TO REDEVELOP.

EXTENDED...UNLIKE LAST NIGHT...THE CURRENT AVN LOOKS ENTIRELY
PLAUSIBLE SYNOPTICALLY IN THE THE HANDLING OF A CUTOFF LOW FORECAST
TO DEVELOP OFF THE CA CST EARLY THIS WEEK. HOWEVER...FORECASTS OF
CUTOFF LOWS...PARTICULARLY IN THE EXTENDED...ARE NOTORIOUSLY LOW
CONFIDENCE. CURRENT EXTENDED FORECAST IS LARGELY BASED ON THE
CURRENT AVN...BUT THE LOW CONFIDENCE FOR THIS FORECAST SHOULD BE
FACTORED IN ACCORDINGLY.

.SAN...WIND ADVISORY..........SEE LAXNPWSAN.
       SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY...SEE LAXCWFSGX.

MARTIN

The radar

The San Diego radar (KNKX), 28 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:38 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, San Diego

When: March 24, 5:40 AM PST
Where: San Diego County, 3 mi W of (Crq)palomar Arpt Ca
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

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: 5281724.