Dust Storm in California, May 7 to 8, 2002

Name: Dust Storm in California, May 7 to 8, 2002
Start: 2002-05-07T23:30
End: 2002-05-08T05:30
Location: California

May 7 to 8, 2002 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Wind gusts between 40 to 50 mph caused blowing dust with visibility near zero. Interstate 10 was closed for six hours to all traffic.

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.

Wind gusts between 40 to 50 mph caused blowing dust with visibility near zero. Interstate 10 was closed for six hours to all traffic.

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 7, 8:00 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 7, 8:00 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
900 PM PDT TUE MAY 7 2002

.SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT INCREASES A LITTLE WEDNESDAY AND
THURSDAY. A TROUGH WILL DEEPEN OVER THE ROCKIES FRIDAY AND MOVE EAST
SATURDAY. HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL INCREASE OVER THE STATE LATE
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. THE COASTAL EDDY IS EXPECTED TO WEAKEN OR DIE
OUT WEDNESDAY. BREEZY TO WINDY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS
TONIGHT...BUT DECREASING.

.DISCUSSION...MARINE LYR BROKE UP LATE AFTN BUT HAS REDEVELOPED OVR
THE AREA. -DZ REPORTED AT MISSION BCH LATE AFTN AND MORE LIKELY TNGT
AND WED AM. 00Z RAOB FROM NKX SHOWS MARINE LYR TOPS ABOUT 4K WITH
PIREP TOPS BEING REPORTED FROM 3.8K TO 4.6K. XPC EDDY TO DIE OUT WED
AS TROF PULLS OUT AND 50H GOES UP. FLAT RDG ON THU. THKNS GOES UP
WED BUT NOT MUCH CHG THU. TROF DIGS OVR THE ROCKIES FRI AND MOVES
OUT SAT. MODELS HAVE BEEN VERY INCONSISTENT LAST FEW DAYS WITH THIS
FEATURE AND NOT CONFIDENT THAT THE FINAL OUTCOME HAS BEEN DECIDED.
MODELS B4 HAD A DEEP TROF DIGGIN INTO SOCAL BUT NOW IT LOOKS MORE
LIKE AN INSIDE JOB AND BELIEVE IT WILL END UP BEING MORE INSIDE.
ECMWF HAS ABOUT THE SAME ANSWER AS THE AVN BUT SLIGHTLY HIER 50H SAT
AM. 50H SHOOTS UP SAT AFTN AND SUN WITH 581 OVR SAN SUN AM. ECMWF
HOLDS ON TO STRONG RDG OVR SOCAL WITH ABOUT 587 OVR SAN MON AM WHILE
AVN GOES TROF AGAIN. XPC MID WAY BETWEEN THE TWO WILL ACTUALLY
OCCUR. BREEZY OVR MTNS AND DSRTS TNGT WITH LIGHTER WINDS WED AND THU
AFTNS. WINDS WILL PICK UP AGAIN FRI AND POSSIBLY INTO SAT AM. HI
TEMPS MAY BE WARMER THAN FCST WED ESPECIALLY IF THE MARINE LYR
VACATES THE AREA AND THE LWR DSRTS SHUD BE HIER. THU SHUD HEAT UP
MORE AND TEMPS LOOK DECENT. FCST COVERS THE BASES. NO UPDATE.

.SAN...NONE.

WHITLOW

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 7, 11:30 PM PST to May 8, 5:30 AM PST
Where: C Riverside forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
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: 5291437.