Flood, San Diego
- When
- February 14, 6:00 AM PST to 7:00 AM PST
- Where
- San Diego County, 3 mi W of San Ysidro
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood in California, February 14, 2003
Two men tried to wade across the rain-swollen Tijuana River near the Hollister Street bridge before dawn. One man was swept away and drowned.
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
- 1
- 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.
Two men tried to wade across the rain-swollen Tijuana River near the Hollister Street bridge before dawn. One man was swept away and drowned.
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 Feb 14, 3:30 AM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 14, 3:30 AM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA 330 AM PST FRI FEB 14 2003 .SYNOPSIS...A MOIST AIR MASS AND AN UPPER LEVEL LOW MOVING EAST ACROSS THE REGION WILL CONTINUE TO BRING SHOWERS THIS MORNING. HIGH PRESSURE WILL REBUILD THIS AFTERNOON AND BRING DRYING THROUGH SATURDAY. A WEAK STORM WILL MOVE PAST TO THE NORTH SUNDAY BRINGING A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS. VARIABLE CLOUDS ARE EXPECTED NEXT WEEK WITH MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. .DISCUSSION...UPPER LOW MOVING INLAND ACROSS FORECAST AREA THIS MORNING WITH MOST SHOWERS ENDING. RIDGE BUILDS RAPIDLY ACROSS REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND DOMINATES WEATHER PATTERN INTO SATURDAY....BUT BY SATURDAY NIGHT THE RIDGE WEAKENS/AXIS SHIFTS EAST OF FORECAST AREA AS TROUGH MOVES INLAND TO THE NORTH. MOIST SW FLOW ALOFT THEN CONTINUES THROUGH MON WITH PROGRESSIVELY LOWERING HEIGHTS...LEADING TO RENEWED THREAT OF PRECIPITATION MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY AS NEXT TROUGH SWINGS ONSHORE...ESPECIALLY SINCE SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS THIS TROUGH HAS ALSO TAPPED TROPICAL MOISTURE AND COULD BE FAIRLY WET...THOUGH NOT AS MUCH AS THE CURRENTLY ENDING 3 DAY EVENT. SPENT ABOUT 3 HOURS WORKING ON IFPS GRIDS TO BRING IN LINE WITH GUIDANCE BEFORE RUNNING OUT OF TIME AND HAVING TO SEND OUT ZONES WITH ONLY MINOR CHANGES. MAIN FORECAST PROBLEM IS THREAT OF PRECIPITATION THURSDAY IS NO LONGER SUPPORTABLE BY MODEL GUIDANCE...SHOWING CUT OFF LOW FORMING WELL OFF N CALIFORNIA COAST AND RIDGE REBUILDING OVER SW CALIFORNIA. HOWEVER GENERAL CONSENSUS WITH ADJACENT OFFICES IS MODEL SOLUTIONS FLIP FLOPPING...SO NEXT MODEL RUN COULD AGAIN SUPPORT PRECIP ON THURSDAY. .SAN...NONE. BALFOUR
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 14, 6:00 AM PST, 0 minutes before
CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-151400- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 600 AM PST FRI FEB 14 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... SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. BALFOUR
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flood, San Diego | 2003-02-14 | 22 | Male | In Water | Direct |
What these are
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Winter Storm in Maryland, February 14 to 18, 2003
- Winter Storm in Virginia, February 14 to 18, 2003
- Flooding in Tennessee, February 14 to 17, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Ice Storm in Kentucky, February 14 to 20, 2003
- Winter Storm in West Virginia, February 14 to 18, 2003
- Flooding in Virginia, February 14 to 17, 2003
- Heavy Snow in West Virginia, February 14 to 17, 2003
- Winter Storm in Iowa, February 14 to 15, 2003
- Flash Flood and Hail in Missouri, February 14, 2003
- Winter Storm in Indiana, February 14 to 17, 2003
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Illinois, February 14 to 16, 2003
- Winter Storm in Iowa, February 14 to 15, 2003
More
Every storm in California in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 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: 5340911.