California, 2002

Hail in California, September 10, 2002

September 10, 2002 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Near continuous large hail for 15 minutes. 50 inch diameter hail during the next two hours from additional thunderstorms that formed over the area.

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

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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 happened

The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.

Near continuous large hail for 15 minutes. Several other occurrences of 0.50 inch diameter hail during the next two hours from additional thunderstorms that formed over the area.

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 10, 5:11 AM PST, 5 hours 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 10, 5:11 AM PST, 5 hours 49 minutes before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
300 AM PDT TUE SEP 10 2002

.SYNOPSIS...ENOUGH RESIDUAL MOISTURE MAY REMAIN FOR A FEW
THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS THIS AFTERNOON.
OTHERWISE...FAIR WEATHER WILL CONTINUE WITH BUILDING HIGH PRESSURE
ALONG THE WEST COAST BRINGING WARMER TEMPERATURES BY THE WEEKEND.

.DISCUSSION...THE ETA IS INITIALIZED BEST WITH THE WEAK UPPER LOW
JUST TO THE SOUTHWEST OF SAN DIEGO. THIS LOW WILL MOVE SLOWLY
NORTHEASTWARD DURING THE NEXT TWO DAYS...EXITING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT. MID LEVEL MOISTURE OVER SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA IS
BEGINNING TO DECREASE...BUT SHOULD STILL BE SUFFICIENT FOR A FEW
THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND POSSIBLY THE
HIGHEST PEAKS OF THE SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON. WITH
MOISTURE DECREASING...ANY THUNDERSTORMS TODAY SHOULD GENERATE MORE
WIND AND LESS RAINFALL THAN THOSE MONDAY AFTERNOON. MID LEVEL
MOISTURE SHOULD CONTINUE TO GRADUALLY DECREASE WEDNESDAY AND
THURSDAY...BUT WITH ENOUGH FOR A FEW AFTERNOON CLOUDS OVER THE
MOUNTAINS EACH AFTERNOON. WEAK EASTERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW WILL ALLOW
TEMPERATURES WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS TO REACH LEVELS A LITTLE GREATER
THAN THOSE OF MONDAY. BUILDING HIGH PRESSURE ALONG THE WEST COAST
COMBINED WITH WEAK DIURNAL OFFSHORE PRESSURE GRADIENTS COULD ALLOW
TEMPERATURES WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS TO GET QUITE WARM DURING THE
WEEKEND. IT MAY NOT BE UNTIL EARLY NEXT WEEK UNTIL THERE IS ANY
GREAT RESURGENCE OF THE MARINE LAYER.

.SAN...NONE.

MARTIN

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, San Diego

When
September 10, 11:00 AM PST to 11:15 AM PST
Where
San Diego County, 2 mi E of Potrero
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates
32.600, -116.567

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5316463.