California, 2003

Heavy Rain in California, July 30, 2003

July 30, 2003 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A thunderstorm produced heavy rain as it move north along the east slopes of the San Diego County Mountains. 88 inches of rain was measured in one hour.

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
1
Property damage
$150,000
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.

A thunderstorm produced heavy rain as it move north along the east slopes of the San Diego County Mountains. In Campo, 1.88 inches of rain was measured in one hour. In the San Felipe Valley, a five foot wall of mud slide across Highway S-2, closing the highway for several hours. Mud also covered the road in several other locations. Just south of Warner Springs a semi-tractor trailer overturned after hitting water and mud washing across the road. Downbursts from the thunderstorm broke off a 18 inch diameter limb from an oak tree and toppled a 12 inch diameter cedar tree.

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 Jul 30, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 30, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour 11 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, San Diego

When
July 30, 2:41 PM PST to 6:40 PM PST
Where
San Diego County, Campo
Injuries
1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$150,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Rain
Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5365837.