Large tree limbs broken off below Cajon Pass. Sustained winds of over 40 mph with gusts in excess of 58 mph measured for three consecutive hours over Santa Ana Mountains.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.
Large tree limbs broken off below Cajon Pass. Sustained winds of over 40 mph with gusts in excess of 58 mph measured for three consecutive hours over Santa Ana Mountains.
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 Dec 15, 2:00 PM PST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA 200 PM PST MON DEC 15 2003 .SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE AT THE SURFACE AND ALOFT WILL CONTINUE OVER THE WEST COAST THROUGH TUESDAY...THEN BEGIN TO WEAKEN ON WEDNESDAY. DRY...WARMER DAYS CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH TUESDAY. STRONG WINDS WILL DEVELOP TONIGHT AND TUESDAY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND BELOW PASSES AND CANYONS...THEN WEAKEN TUESDAY NIGHT. PARTLY CLOUDY AT TIMES THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY AS WEAK UPPER LEVEL TROUGHS MOVE BY TO THE NORTH. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES. OFFSHORE PRESSURE GRADIENTS CONTINUE TO INCREASE AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GREAT BASIN STRENGTHENS. NORTHEAST TO EAST WINDS HAVE ALREADY SHOWN UP AT SOME OF THE MOUNTAIN RAWS STATIONS AS WELL AS AT THE METAR SITES AT BOTH ONTARIO AND CAMPO. HAVE ALREADY ISSUED THE WIND ADVISORY FOR ALL THE MOUNTAINS AS WELL AS THE INLAND EMPIRE AND ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL PLAINS THROUGH TUESDAY. LOCAL STUDIES SUGGEST A FEW LOCATIONS MIGHT REACH HIGH WIND WARNING CRITERIA ON TUESDAY BUT MODELS SUGGEST UPPER SUPPORT FOR THIS WILL BE WEAK SO ANY HIGH WIND EVENTS SHOULD BE SPOTTY AT BEST. RIDGE PEAKS TUESDAY AND BEGINS TO WEAKEN ON WEDNESDAY AS ANOTHER SHORTWAVE TROUGH OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC APPROACHES THE COAST. THE 12Z GFS MODEL INDICATES THIS SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL SPLIT AND FALL APART AS IT TRIES TO MOVE INTO THE WEST COAST RIDGE LATE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. IT SHOULD STILL BRING SOME CLOUDS TO THE AREA BUT NOT EXPECTING ANY PRECIPITATION FROM THIS SYSTEM. ONCE THIS SHORTWAVE MOVES BY...A SECOND VERY WEAK SHORTWAVE WILL MOVE BY TO THE NORTH LATE SUNDAY AND MONDAY WITH LITTLE OR NO IMPACT EXCEPT FOR SOME CLOUDS. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FIRE WEATHER WATCH...SEE LAXRFWSGX. WIND ADVISORY...SEE LAXNPWSGX. && HORTON
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 1150 AM PST MON DEC 142003 CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-161400- ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS- SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS- SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTY VALLEYS-THE INLAND EMPIRE- SAN DIEGO COUNTY VALLEYS- SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS- SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- APPLE AND YUCCA VALLEYS- COACHELLA VALLEY- SAN DIEGO COUNTY DESERTS- 1150 AM PST MON DEC 15 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR ALL MOUNTAINS AS WELL AS THE INLAND EMPIRE AND ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL PLAINS. REFER TO LAXNPWSGX WWUS76 KSGX FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY A FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS IN EFFECT TUESDAY FOR STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES. REFER TO LAXRFWSGX WWUS86 KSGX FOR DETAILS. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT TUESDAY FOR ALL MOUNTAINS AS WELL AS THE INLAND EMPIRE AND ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL PLAINS. REFER TO LAXNPWSGX WWUS76 KSGX FOR DETAILS. WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. SMALL/HORTON
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 2003
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: 5328275, 5328276.