Name: Funnel Cloud in California, March 24, 2002
Start: 2002-03-24T18:20
End: 2002-03-24T18:24
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, 2:20 PM PST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 24, 2:20 PM PST, 4 hours before

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

.SYNOPSIS...THE TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE EAST OUT OF THE
AREA THROUGH MONDAY...BRINGING AN END TO THE SHOWERS. THE GUSTY
WINDS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS WILL DIMINISH EARLY TONIGHT.
WEAK HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL BRING WARMER WEATHER...MAINLY
TUESDAY...THEN A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL BRING COOLING WITH A
CHANCE OF SHOWERS THURSDAY OR FRIDAY.

.DISCUSSION...ISOLATED SHOWERS CONTINUED TODAY...MOSTLY OVER THE
MOUNTAINS. THE ISLAND CONVERGENCE SEEMS TO BE DECREASING...SO
THAT...COMBINED WITH THE END OF THE DAILY INSTABILITY OVER THE
MOUNTAINS...SHOULD BRING AN END TO ALL PRECIP LATE THIS EVENING.
WITH THE 700-MB WINDS DECREASING AND COLD AIR ADVECTION MOSTLY GONE
AND PRESSURE GRADIENTS JUST MODERATELY STRONG...SURFACE WINDS WILL
REMAIN BELOW WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA IN THE MTNS/DESERTS AS THEY
DECREASE TONIGHT. THUS...THE WAD WAS CANCELLED FOR THE DESERTS AT 2
PM.

WITH THE CLOSED LOW OVER THE E/PAC BEING FAIRLY SHARP...RIDGING
SHOULD OCCUR OVER OUR AREA TUE/WED...SO AT LEAST INLAND AREAS SHOULD
WARM TO ABOUT NORMAL. ONSHORE FLOW SHOULD BE FAIRLY WEAK...AND THE
SURFACE FLOW PATTERN AROUND PT CONCEPTION WILL NOT BE IDEAL FOR AN
EDDY DUE TO THE POSITION OF THE CLOSED LOW...SO THE LOW CLOUDS
SHOULD NOT BE TOO EXTENSIVE. HIGH CLOUDS SHOULD MOSTLY STAY TO THE
NORTH...SO PROBABLY TUE/WED SHOULD BE MOSTLY CLEAR EAST OF WHATEVER
MARINE LAYER EXISTS.

THE NEXT SYSTEM...BEING A CLOSED LOW...HAS A LOT OF VARYING
SOLUTIONS AMONG THE MODELS. THE AVN SOLUTION LOOKS REASONABLE WITH
TIMING...THOUGH GIVEN THE STRONG DIGGING OF THE JET BEHIND THE
LOW...THE LOW COULD BE FURTHER WEST THAN ADVERTISED. THE THURS
PERIOD SHOULD ALSO HAVE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS GIVEN THAT WE WILL BE
CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE LOW THAT IF THERE IS A MARINE LAYER WE COULD SEE
SOMETHING DEVELOP...AND MRF MOS POPS HAVE IT. OF COURSE...FRI WOULD
BE THE MOST LIKELY DAY...THOUGH WE MAY SEE NO PRECIP IF THE CLOSED
LOW CONTINUES TO DRIFT SOUTH AND GO THROUGH BAJA.

.SAN...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY...SEE LAXCWFSGX.

MAXWELL

The radar

The San Diego radar (KNKX), 28 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:20 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, 6:20 PM PST to 6:24 PM PST
Where: San Diego County, 5 mi W of (Crq)palomar Arpt Ca
Reported by: AIRPLANE PILOT
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: 5281725.