Flash Flood, San Diego
- When
- August 14, 12:32 PM PST to 2:00 PM PST
- Where
- San Diego County, 5 mi SW of Mt Laguna Afs
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in California, August 14, 2003
Boulders strewn all over roadway.
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
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.
Boulders strewn all over roadway.
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 Aug 14, 6:44 AM PST, 5 hours 48 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 14, 6:44 AM PST, 5 hours 48 minutes before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA 330 AM PDT THU AUG 14 2003 .SYNOPSIS...MONSOONAL MOISTURE WILL BRING PERIODS OF CLOUDS THROUGH NEXT WEEK WITH COVERAGE GREATEST TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS EACH AFTERNOON IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. THUNDERSTORMS OR SHOWERS COULD DRIFT WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. .DISCUSSION...SHORTWAVE BRINGING CONVECTION TO AZ INTO NW MEXICO IS PROGGED BY THE GFS TO MOVE SWWD...WELL TO THE SOUTH OF SW CA. HOWEVER...OUTFLOW FM THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO BRING SOME INCREASE IN LWR AND MID LVL MSTR TO SRN SXNS OF SW CA TODAY...PERHAPS ENOUGH COMBINED WITH WKNG SUBSIDENCE ALF TO ALLOW FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT OVR THE SRN RANGES THIS AFTERNOON. MORE DEEP LYRD MID AND HIGH LVL MSTR ARRIVES BY TONIGHT AND WL LINGER THRU FRI NIGHT BEFORE THINNING OUT SATURDAY. RATHER AMORPHOUS UPPER AIR PATTERN AFTER SATURDAY...BUT ENOUGH RESIDUAL MSTR FOR CHANCE OF CONVECTION OVR THE MTNS ALMOST ANY AFTERNOON THRU MUCH OF NEXT WEEK. RAINALL COULD BE LCLLY HVY IN THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY MTNS AND DESERTS SATURDAY AFTERNOON. SAN...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 14, 5:00 AM PST, 7 hours 32 minutes before
CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-151300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 600 AM PDT THU AUG 14 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS EACH AFTERNOON SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.
The radar
The San Diego radar (KNKX), 28 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:32 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flood and Hail in Arizona, August 14, 2003
- Lightning Strike in Utah, August 14, 2003
- Hail in Colorado, August 14, 2003
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Arizona, August 14, 2003
- Flash Flood in California, August 14, 2003
- Flash Flood and Lightning Strike in North Carolina, August 14, 2003
- Lightning Strike in South Carolina, August 14, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, August 14 to 17, 2003
- High Surf in Hawaii, August 14 to 16, 2003
- Flash Flood and Lightning Strike in North Carolina, August 14, 2003
- Flash Flood in North Carolina, August 14, 2003
- Funnel Cloud in Florida, August 14, 2003
More
Every storm in California in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in California, August 2003
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: 5368347.