A Winter Storm, brought heavy precipitation and thunderstorms with damaging winds as it moved onshore through Southwest California. In the mountains above 5500 feet elevation, 9 to 14 inches of snow fell.
Every event with a place to put it; 11 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.
A Winter Storm, brought heavy precipitation and thunderstorms with damaging winds as it moved onshore through Southwest California. In the mountains above 5500 feet elevation, 9 to 14 inches of snow fell. The snow level eventually lowered to 3500 feet over the high desert where 1 to 3 inches of snow fell. Along the coastal slopes, at elevations below 5000 feet, heavy rain caused mudslides, closing several mountain highways. Heavy rainshowers over the valleys and along the coastal plain, flooded many roadway and were a contributing factor in many traffic accidents. Strong winds from a squall line moving across the coastal waters, knocked down trees as it moved onshore through southern Orange County and San Diego County.
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, 2:30 PM PST, 3 hours 52 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO 230 PM PST MON FEB 2 2004 .SYNOPSIS...A STRONG WINTER STORM APPROACHING FROM THE NORTHWEST WILL BRING RAIN AND SNOW...HEAVY AT TIMES...TONIGHT. SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE TUESDAY AND GRADUALLY DECREASE. STRONG WINDS ARE EXPECTED MAINLY IN THE MOUNTAINS. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING FAIR AND WARMER WEATHER WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. A WEAK WEATHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE TO THE NORTH OF THE REGION SATURDAY BUT LITTLE IF ANY PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED. COOLER THAN NORMAL WEATHER CONTINUES INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK AS LOW PRESSURE CONTINUES OVER THE WEST. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES. RAIN IS MOVING INTO THE SANTA BARBARA AREA AND IT WILL SPREAD ACROSS SOCAL TONIGHT. LATEST MODEL GUIDANCE SHOWING THE STORM CENTER SLIGHTLY MORE NORTH AND INLAND THAN IN PREVIOUS RUNS...SO SOCAL NOT QUITE IN THE CROSSHAIRS OF THE STORM. THIS WILL NOT DETER THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STORM. ALTHOUGH IT MAY REDUCE THE EXPECTED PRECIP AMOUNTS SLIGHTLY...IT WILL NOT AFFECT THE WATCHES OR WARNINGS. WINTER STORM WARNING ISSUED THIS MORNING AS CONFIDENCE IS HIGH THAT SNOWFALL WILL REACH CRITERIA. A FLASH FLOOD WARNING WILL WAIT UNTIL THE RAIN GETS CLOSER...BUT A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS GOING. BIG SWELL AND OCEAN WINDS ARRIVING TONIGHT SO SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE STORM STEW. THE COLDER AIR ARRIVES AFTER MIDNIGHT TUE AND SNOW LEVELS WILL DROP TO 3500 FEET IN THE NORTH...4000 FEET IN THE SOUTH. THIS WILL HELP SLOW DOWN FLASH FLOODING ABOVE 4000 FEET IN THE MOUNTAINS. UP TO 2 FEET OF SNOW POSSIBLE IN THE SBD MTNS...UP TO 18 INCHES IN THE SAN MTNS...EASILY THE BIGGEST SNOW STORM OF THE SEASON SO FAR. TSTORMS EXPECTED MOST AREAS EXCEPT LOWER DESERTS TUE AND MAY START BEFORE SUNRISE. SHOWERS WILL DECREASE SLIGHTLY DURING THE DAY...THEN DRIER NORTHWEST FLOW AND SUNSET WILL HELP END SHOWERS LATE TUE. A FEW SHOWERS MAY LINGER IN MTNS AND SOUTHERN SAN DIEGO COUNTY. GRADUAL CLEARING WED AND FAIR THROUGH FRI. ANOTHER SHORTWAVE DROPS IN LATE FRI INTO SAT...BUT THIS LOOKS LIKE A MARINE LAYER EVENT WITH LIGHT SHOWERS OR DRIZZLE AT MOST...MUCH LIKE LAST SAT. SHORTWAVES MOVING DUE SOUTH OUT OF WESTERN CANADA WILL REINFORCE A WESTERN U.S. TROUGH WHILE A BIG RIDGE AMPLIFIES JUST OFF THE COAST. THIS WILL KEEP US COOL BUT DRY EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING...LAXWSWSGX. FLASH FLOOD WATCH...LAXFLSSGX. MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT...LAXMWSSGX. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY...SEE LAXCWFSGX. && MM
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 200 PM PST MON FEB 2 2004 CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-031400- 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- 600 AM PST MON FEB 2 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE COASTAL AREAS INLAND VALLEYS AND MOUNTAINS BELOW 4000 FEET. REFER TO LAXFLSSGX WGUS86 KSGX FOR DETAILS. WINTER STORM WARNING ABOVE 4000 FEET FROM 600 PM TONIGHT THROUGH 600 PM TUESDAY FOR SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS- SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- REFER TO LAXWSWSGX WWUS46 KSGX FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY POSSIBLE FLASH FLOODS AND MUDSLIDES... FOR 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- TUESDAY. POSSIBLE WINTER STORM WITH HEAVY SNOW AND/OR STRONG WINDS... FOR SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS- SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- TUESDAY. LARGE SWELLS... POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS... POSSIBLE HIGH SURF... POSSIBLE MINOR TIDAL OVERFLOW... FOR COASTAL WATERS- ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS- SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS- TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN ACTIVATION WILL BE REQUIRED TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY. BALFOUR/MM
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 flash flood, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 heavy snow, 1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2004
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: 5394694, 5394695, 5394683, 5394684, 5394685, 5394693, 5394688, 5394686, 5394696, 5394687, 5394689, 5394690, 5394691, 5394692.