Damaging Wind in California, April 1, 2004

Name: Damaging Wind in California, April 1, 2004
Start: 2004-04-01T18:18
End: 2004-04-01T18:19
Location: California

April 1, 2004 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Tree blown down across North Brea Boulevard at Tonner Canyon road.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $5,000
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.

Tree blown down across North Brea Boulevard at Tonner Canyon road.

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 Apr 1, 2:30 PM PST, 3 hours 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 1, 2:30 PM PST, 3 hours 48 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO
230 PM PST THU APR 01 2004

.SYNOPSIS...A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
TONIGHT AND BRING PRECIPITATION TO MAINLY INLAND AREAS OF THE REGION
THROUGH SATURDAY. WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS...THE MARINE LAYER WILL
PRODUCE LIGHT SHOWERS AND DRIZZLE FRIDAY. IN THE MOUNTAINS AND
DESERTS...SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP. SOME OF
THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MIGRATE TOWARD THE COAST. THE
LOW WILL SLOWLY MOVE OUT SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE
RETURNS. THIS WILL BRING FAIR WEATHER AND A WARMING TREND NEXT WEEK.

&&

.DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTIES.

CUT OFF LOWS AND THE FORECAST MODELS ARE NOTORIOUSLY CAPRICIOUS THIS
TIME OF YEAR AND THE RESULTING FORECAST IS ALSO. WE ARE BRINGING IN
THE PRECIP FRI AND SAT. THE UPPER LOW OVER THE GREAT BASIN WAS THE
BIG QUESTION...ALWAYS LOOKING HARMLESS UNTIL LATE YESTERDAY. NOW THE
MODELS HAVE GAINED SOME CONSISTENCY WITH EACH OTHER AND FROM RUN TO
RUN SO WE CAN IGNORE THE WETTER SOLUTION NO LONGER. THE LOW MOVES
OVER SOCAL TONIGHT AND STAYS HERE THROUGH SAT. INITIALLY IT WILL
DEEPEN THE MARINE LAYER AND PRODUCE DRIZZLE AND LIGHT SHOWERS FROM
THE EXISTING CLOUD. MUCH COLDER AIR MOVES IN FRI AND THE MARINE
INVERSION SHOULD BREAK AND IT WILL BECOME PARTLY CLOUDY. BUT SHOWERS
AND TSTORMS WILL BE STARTING IN THE MTNS AND DESERTS AND SOME
OF THOSE WILL MAKE IT WEST OF THE MTNS IN NORTHERLY FLOW FRI THROUGH
SAT. THIS IS NOT A WET STORM AND ANY SHOWERS WILL BE LIGHT...EXCEPT
IN TSTORMS THAT ARE NEARLY STATIONARY. TOTAL PRECIP AMOUNTS WILL BE
LESS THAN ONE QUARTER INCH...EXCEPT UP TO ONE INCH IN LOCAL TSTORMS.
WINDS WILL NOT BE A PROBLEM EXCEPT SOMEWHAT STRONG THROUGH TONIGHT
OUTSIDE THE MARINE LAYER. SNOW WILL STAY ABOVE 5000 FEET AND ONLY A
FEW INCHES WILL ACCUMULATE. THE LOW WILL SLOWLY MOVE OUT SUN FOR A
GRADUAL RETURN TO NORMAL WEATHER BY MON. THE RIDGE WILL STRENGTHEN
BRINGING A WARMING TREND AND COASTAL LOW CLOUDS.

&&

.SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.

&&

MM

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 1, 6:06 PM PST, 12 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
606 PM PST THU APR 1 2004

CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-021400-
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-
606 PM PST THU APR 1 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA.

.DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...AND DEADLY
LIGHTNING. POSSIBLE URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING.

.DAY TWO... FRIDAY

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...AND DEADLY
LIGHTNING. POSSIBLE URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING.

DAYS THREE THROUGH SEVEN... SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

JAD

The radar

The Santa Ana Mts radar (KSOX), 25 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:15 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Orange

When: April 1, 6:18 PM PST to 6:19 PM PST
Where: Orange County, Brea
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 33.917, -117.883

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in California, April 2004

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: 5393499.