A warm wet storm dropped 5 to 10 inches of rain over the mountains and 2 to 4 inches across the valleys and coast over a three day period. Parts of Interstate 215 near Devore, and Interstate 15 in Fontana were flooded.
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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.
A warm wet storm dropped 5 to 10 inches of rain over the mountains and 2 to 4 inches across the valleys and coast over a three day period. Parts of Interstate 215 near Devore, and Interstate 15 in Fontana were flooded. Street flooding was reported in many valley and coastal locations, and also in the Apple Valley. Mud and rock slides blocked Highway 18 in the San Bernardino mountains. Moderate erosion occurred to levees along washes and creeks leading through the foothills and at the base of the mountains. Several commercial buildings had roofs collapse from backed up rainwater.
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 Feb 11, 8:30 AM PST, 45 minutes earlier.
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA 830 AM PST TUE FEB 11 2003 .SYNOPSIS...A PACIFIC STORM WILL BRING PERIODS OF RAIN...HEAVY AT TIMES...INTO WED WITH SHOWERS LINGERING INTO FRIDAY. GUSTY WINDS WILL ALSO ACCOMPANY THIS STORM...MAINLY IN THE MOUNTAINS. WEAK HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES SATURDAY. ANOTHER STORM WILL BRING A CHANCE OF SHOWERS LATE SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. .DISCUSSION...ALREADY GETTING LOTS OF RAIN IN MOIST SLY FLOW AROUND UPPER LOW OFF THE COAST. UPDATED ZONES TO GO CATEGORICAL WITH MANY OF THE POPS. 12Z NKX SOUNDING NEARLY SATURATED THROUGH LOWER 13 KFT WITH STRONG S TO SW FLOW ALOFT. GUSTY WINDS SHOWING UP IN THE MOUNTAINS. OFFSHORE GRADIENTS WITH ABOUT -5 MB SAN-TPH. EXPECT PERIODS OF RAIN TO CONTINUE THROUGH THU AS THE UPPER LOW SLOWLY MOVES ENE. LOOKS LIKE BEST DYNAMICS FOR MORE WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAIN WILL BE TONIGHT INTO WED. SNOW LEVEL WILL EVENTUALLY LOWER TO NEAR 7000 FT AS THE TROUGH MOVES THROUGH LATE THU AND EARLY FRI. THE RAIN SHOULD TURN LIGHTER LATE WED AND THU AND BECOME SHOWERY BY FRI AND END LATE FRI. EXPECT LARGE RAINFALL TOTALS FOR THIS STORM WITH ABOUT 1-3 INCHES W OF THE MOUNTAINS AND 3-6 INCHES IN THE MOUNTAINS...WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME LOCAL MUCH LARGER AMOUNTS. SRN DESERTS SHOULD GENERALLY GET LESS THAN AN INCH OF RAIN WITH ABOUT AN INCH IN THE NRN DESERTS. GUSTY SLY WINDS WILL ACCOMPANY THIS STORM INTO WED...MAINLY IN THE MOUNTAINS...AND PERHAPS SURFACING IN SOME DESERT AREAS. THE WINDS SHOULD SLOWLY DECREASE DURING THE DAY WED. WILL LIKELY HAVE URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING AND MAY NEED FFA. LONGER RANGE PROGS INDICATE WEAK RIDGING AND DECREASING MOISTURE SAT FOR PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES. A WEAK STORM APPROACHING FROM THE NW WILL BRING INCREASING CLOUDS SUN WITH A CHANCE OF PRECIP LATE SUN INTO MON. HOWEVER...THE TIMING AND STRENGTH OF THIS NEXT SYSTEM REMAINS UNCERTAIN. LOOKS LIKE IT SHOULD DRY OUT BY TUE FOR PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES ONCE AGAIN. .SAN...SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SEE LAXSPSSGX. ATKIN
CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-121400- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 600 AM PST TUE FEB 11 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY POSSIBLE HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND FLASH FLOODING... PROLONGED RAINFALL WITH RIVER FLOODING... FOR ALL OF EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA... WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. BALFOUR
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 505 AM PST TUE FEB 11 2003 CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-PZZ750-775-112300- ALL OF EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA- 505 AM PST TUE FEB 11 2003 ...A PACIFIC STORM WILL AFFECT EXTREME SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LATE TUESDAY INTO FRIDAY... A WARM FRONT AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING PACIFIC STORM BROUGHT LIGHT RAIN TO SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA DURING THE NIGHT. AT 400 AM PST TUESDAY THE STORM WAS CENTERED ABOUT 650 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF SAN DIEGO. INTERMITTENT LIGHT RAIN WILL CONTINUE TODAY. MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED TONIGHT WITH HEAVY RAIN ON WEDNESDAY. THE LATEST RAINFALL ESTIMATES FOR WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY ARE FOR ABOUT 1 TO 3 INCHES WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS...4 TO 7 INCHES IN THE MOUNTAINS AND A THIRD TO AN 1 INCH IN THE DESERTS. THE GROUND IS DRY SO IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME FOR RUNOFF TO DEVELOP. HOWEVER...IF THESE LARGE RAINFALL TOTALS MATERIALIZE THEN THERE COULD EVENTUALLY BE SOME FLOODING OF POORLY DRAINED LOW LYING AREAS AND SMALL STREAMS. THERE COULD ALSO BE MUD SLIDES...ESPECIALLY IN THE RECENTLY BURNED AREAS. THIS IS A WARM STORM AND THE SNOW LEVEL WILL REMAIN HIGH...ABOVE 9000 FT THROUGH WEDNESDAY THEN GRADUALLY LOWER TO NEAR 7000 FT BY FRIDAY. THE RAIN WILL TURN TO SHOWERS LATE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AND GRADUALLY TAPER OFF. BALFOUR
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 flood. 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, February 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: 5340534, 5340535, 5340914.