Dust Storm in California, May 20 to 21, 2002

Name: Dust Storm in California, May 20 to 21, 2002
Start: 2002-05-20T14:00
End: 2002-05-21T09:00
Location: California

May 20 to 21, 2002 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Visibility was less than 1/4 mile across the Coachella Valley south of Interstate 10. Wind speeds were estimated at 40 mph.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 happened

The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.

Visibility was less than 1/4 mile across the Coachella Valley south of Interstate 10. Wind speeds were estimated at 40 mph.

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 May 20, 1:30 PM PST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 20, 1:30 PM PST, 30 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
230 PM PDT MON MAY 20 2002

.SYNOPSIS...A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP SLOWLY THROUGH THE AREA TONIGHT
WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS...AND WINDY CONDITIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND
DESERTS.  THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT IN THE
NORTHERN MOUNTAIN AREAS. THE SHOWERS WILL MOVE EAST BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON
AS A WARMING TREND SETS IN...WITH CONTINUED WARMER DAYS INTO THE
WEEKEND.

.DISCUSSION...A WEAK COLD FRONT CONTINUES TO SLOWLY PUSH EAST OVER OUR
AREA...WITH DRYING TO THE WEST.  THERE WILL BE SOME RESIDUAL LIGHT
SHOWER ACTIVITY CONTINUING THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING...HOWEVER THE
ACTIVITY SHOULD TAPER OFF FROM THE NORTH.  THERE WAS A THUNDERSTORM IN
THE TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS AT ABOUT 2 PM...SO IT WOULD BE PRUDENT TO CARRY
AT LEAST SOME MENTIONS OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MOUNTAIN ZONES FOR THE
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

SOME WARMING IS EXPECTED TUESDAY AFTERNOON...FOLLOWED BY EVEN MORE
WARMING WEDNESDAY...THEN A LITTLE MORE THURSDAY...AND AD NAUSEAM INTO
FRIDAY AS THICKNESSES SLOWLY RECOVER BEHIND THIS TROUGH.  THE TYPICAL
NIGHT AND MORNING LOW CLOUD PATTERN SHOULD BECOME ESTABLISHED BY
WEDNESDAY AFTER TODAYS...AND POSSIBLY TUESDAYS...REVERSE CLEARING
PATTERNS.

.SAN...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR OUTER WATERS...SEE LAXCWFSGX.

SMALL

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Dust Storm, C Riverside

When: May 20, 2:00 PM PST to May 21, 9:00 AM PST
Where: C Riverside forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 33.744, -115.994 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

Every storm in California in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in California, May 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: 5291439.