Damaging Wind in California, September 1, 2002

Name: Damaging Wind in California, September 1, 2002
Start: 2002-09-01T14:30
End: 2002-09-01T14:30
Location: California

September 1, 2002 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Large tree limbs broken off, fences and 2 large water tanks knocked down. Trained spotter in area estimated wind gusts at 60 kt.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: $30,000
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 happened

The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.

Large tree limbs broken off, fences and 2 large water tanks knocked down. Trained spotter in area estimated wind gusts at 60 kt.

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 Sep 1, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 1, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
230 PM PDT SUN SEP 1 2002

.SYNOPSIS...MOISTURE FROM GENEVIEVE WILL PRODUCE SOME THUNDERSTORMS
IN THE SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS THIS EVENING. HIGH
PRESSURE WILL BRING NEAR RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES TO SOME AREAS
INLAND FROM THE BEACHES THROUGH LABOR DAY. DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE
ALOFT WILL COOL OFF THE REGION TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. MOISTURE FROM
HURRICANE HERNAN WILL BRING MORE MOISTURE WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY
AND A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY TO THE MOUNTAINS.
DRIER WEATHER IS EXPECTED NEXT WEEKEND.

.DISCUSSION...TSTORMS IN SBD MTNS AND DESERT FOOTHILLS TODAY...BUT
VERY SMALL RAINFALL AMOUNTS. A FEW LIGHT SHOWERS OR SPRINKLES WERE
NOTED IN NRN OR CO AND NRN INLAND EMPIRE. LOTS OF CU BUILDUPS OVER
RIV AND SAN CO MTNS...BUT INHIBITED BY A CAP...SO FEW IF ANY TSTORMS
THERE. ENORMOUS FIRE SE OF ENSENADA SPREAD A SHEET OF SMOKE ACROSS
SD CO THIS AM BUT HAS DISSIPATED SOME. HOT AIR PRODUCED BY LOTS OF
SUBSIDENCE AND WEAK ONSHORE GRADIENTS...ONLY 2 MB SAN-IPL. SOME
RECORDS WILL GO DOWN TODAY AND MON.

MARINE LAYER CLOUDS A DISTANT MEMORY AND MAY NOT SEE MUCH INTO
DISTANT FUTURE...BUT ADDED A TOKEN MENTION OF FOG AT CST FOR MON
NIGHT. PROGS SHOWING SOME DECREASE IN GENEVIEVE MOISTURE MON-TUE...
BUT MORE COPIOUS HERNAN MOISTURE ARRIVES WED-FRI AS AN UPPER TROUGH
AMPLIFIES ALONG W CST AND DRAWS THE MOISTURE UP. HAVE INTRODUCED LOW
TO MED POPS FOR WED-FRI IN SEVERAL ZONES. TEMPS WILL GRADUALLY LOWER
SEVERAL DEGREES EACH DAY TUE-FRI...MAYBE EVEN BELOW NORMAL BY FRI.
GFS MODEL PREVIOUSLY BUILT A ROBUST RIDGE OVER THE SW U.S. OVER THE
WEEKEND...BUT LATEST 12Z VERSION IS NOT NEARLY AS STRONG WITH IT. AT
ANY RATE...DRIER AND A BIT WARMER WX EXPECTED OVER WEEKEND.

.SAN...HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...SEE LAXSPSSGX.

MM

The radar

The Santa Ana Mts radar (KSOX), 49 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:32 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Riverside

When: September 1, 2:30 PM PST
Where: Riverside County, Murrieta
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: AIRPLANE PILOT
Coordinates: 33.550, -117.217

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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, September 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: 5316326.