High winds blew trees down in the communities of Redlands, Jurupa, and Riverside. Blowing sand and dust disrupted traffic and outdoor activities in the Coachella Valley.
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.
High winds blew trees down in the communities of Redlands, Jurupa, and Riverside. Blowing sand and dust disrupted traffic and outdoor activities in the Coachella Valley.
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 2, 3:30 AM PST, 30 minutes earlier.
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA 330 AM PST SUN FEB 2 2003 .SYNOPSIS...A LOW PRESSURE TROUGH WILL MOVE OUT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TODAY AND WILL BRING STRONG GUSTY WINDS TO THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS THIS MORNING. IT WILL BE COOLER TODAY IN ALL AREAS... THEN WARMER MONDAY AS OFFSHORE FLOW DEVELOPS. UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE OVER THE WEST WILL BRING BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE WEEK AND OCCASIONAL CLOUDINESS. .DISCUSSION...UPPER TROUGH MOVING THROUGH SOCAL AT THIS TIME. A COASTAL EDDY HAS DEEPENED THE MARINE LAYER SUCH THAT LOW CLOUDS HAVE EXTENDED TO ALL AREAS WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS. SOME STRONG WINDS THIS MORNING ESPECIALLY IN MOJAVE DESERT SO FAR. AS THE DRY COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH WITH SUBSIDENCE BEHIND IT...EXPECT MORE OF THE STRONG WINDS ALOFT TO SURFACE. THE WINDS ALOFT AND THE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS RELAX CONSIDERABLY DURING THE DAY. WIND ADVISORY LOOKS GOOD UNTIL NOON. THE LOW CLOUDS WILL CLEAR OUT TODAY...BUT MAY BE SLOW TO CLEAR INLAND...AND IT WILL BE COOL IN ALL AREAS. THEN PRESSURE GRADIENTS TURN OFFSHORE TONIGHT AND SOME OFFSHORE WINDS ARE EXPECTED EARLY MON. WINDS WILL BE MOSTLY GRADIENT DRIVEN WITH LITTLE ADDITIONAL COLD AIR ADVECTION FOR PRODUCING REALLY STRONG WINDS... BUT THEY MAY APPROACH ADVISORY STRENGTH. TEMPS WILL INCREASE ALL AREAS MON. ON TUE A SHORTWAVE DROPS DUE SOUTH OUT OF CANADA AND THE RIDGE BEGINS TO FLATTEN OUT. THIS CONTINUES THROUGH THU AND BY FRI THE TROUGH AXIS IS OVER SOCAL. THE ORIGIN OF THE AIR IS NORTH CENTRAL CANADA SO IT WILL BE QUITE COOL FOR SURE THU AND FRI...BUT OFFSHORE FLOW WILL MODIFY THE COOLING A BIT WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS. COULD GET OFFSHORE WINDS AS WELL. EXTENDED MODELS DIFFER ON WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT. THE GFS WANTS TO CUT OFF A LOW FROM THIS TROUGH OVER SOCAL FRI AND SAT AND WRAPS A LITTLE MOISTURE FROM MEXICO AROUND IT. THIS COULD BE LIKE A COUPLE SYSTEMS EARLIER THIS WINTER THAT HAVE BROUGHT PRECIP MAINLY TO MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS WITH EASTERLY FLOW. THE EURO MODEL KEEPS THE LOW IN THE WESTERN INTERIOR. THE MOISTURE IS NOT ABUNDANT AND THE CONFIDENCE IS LOW THAT FAR OUT SO FOR NOW WILL KEEP IT PARTLY CLOUDY AND COOL. .SAN...WIND ADVISORY ZONES 55/56/58/60/61/62 THROUGH NOON TODAY. MM
CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-021400- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 600 AM PST SAT FEB 1 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... SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. MARTIN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind, 1 dust storm. 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: 5340912, 5340913.