From 12 to 25 inches of snow fell over the San Bernardino mountains, from Wrightwood to Forest Falls. Over the Riverside County Mountains and the San Diego County mountains, snowfall ranged from eleven to eighteen inches.
Every event with a place to put it; 12 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.
From 12 to 25 inches of snow fell over the San Bernardino mountains, from Wrightwood to Forest Falls. Over the Riverside County Mountains and the San Diego County mountains, snowfall ranged from eleven to eighteen inches. Heavy rain, between 1.6 and 3.2 inches, fell over the lower elevations. This caused flash flooding and mudslides along the lower slopes, foothill, and out into the valley floors and desert areas.
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 21, 2:30 PM PST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO 230 PM PST SAT FEB 21 2004 .SYNOPSIS...A BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE OVER SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA WITH SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. THE RAIN AND SNOW SHOULD DECREASE MONDAY... AND END MONDAY NIGHT...BUT ANOTHER STRONG STORM IS EXPECTED AROUND WEDNESDAY WITH SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION AND STRONG WINDS THROUGH AT LEAST THURSDAY. THE WEATHER REMAINS UNSETTLED THROUGH FRIDAY. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES. THE UPPER LOW HAS FINALLY BEGUN TO SHIFT EAST INTO OUR AREA. RAIN IS WIDESPREAD...WITH SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS. THEREFORE...LOOKS LIKE EVERYTHING IS ON TRACK FOR HEAVY RAIN IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS...AND HEAVY SNOW IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. THE WINDS SHOULD ALSO PICK UP ALL AREAS...BUT ESPECIALLY IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. THE HEAVIEST ACTIVITY IS SLATED TO CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. BY TUESDAY...SOME SUN IS EXPECTED AS THE RIDGE BUILDS IN BEHIND THIS SYSTEM...WITH SOME WARMING MOST AREAS DURING THE AFTERNOON. HOWEVER...THIS BREAK IN THE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED TO LAST VERY LONG. BY LATE TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY...THE NEXT IN THE SERIES OF STORMS WILL BE MOVING IN. MORE HEAVY RAIN...WITH MOUNTAIN SNOWS...WILL OCCUR DURING THAT PERIOD. THE HEAVIER ACTIVITY SHOULD LAST INTO THURSDAY...WITH AN UNSETTLED PERIOD INTO FRIDAY. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING....................................LAXWSWSGX. FLASH FLOOD WATCH.......................................LAXFFASGX. MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT................................LAXMWSSGX. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY....................................LAXCWFSGX. HYDROLOGIC OUTLOOK (SPECIAL ISSUANCE)...................LAXESFSGX. SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...............................LAXSPSSGX. && SMALL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 600 AM PST SAT FEB 21 2004 CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-221400- 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 SAT FEB 21 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR BURN AREAS THROUGH SUNDAY SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTY VALLEYS-THE INLAND EMPIRE- SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR BURN AREAS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY SAN DIEGO COUNTY VALLEYS- SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- REFER TO LAXFLSSGX WGUS66 KSGX FOR DETAILS. WINTER STORM WATCH TONIGHT AND SUNDAY SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- REFER TO LAXWSWSGX WWUS46 KSGX FOR DETAILS. GALE FORCE WINDS AND HAZARDOUS SEAS TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT REFER TO LAXMWSSGX FZUS76 KSGX FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT...STORM WITH WIDESPREAD MODERATE TO HEAVY PRECIPITATION POSSIBLE. GALE FORCE WINDS AND HAZARDOUS SEAS WILL CONTINUE. WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...STORM WITH WIDESPREAD MODERATE TO HEAVY PRECIPITATION AND STRONG WIND POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING. MAXWELL
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 430 PM PST SAT FEB 21 2004 CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-PZZ750-775-221200- ALL OF EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA- COASTAL WATERS FROM SAN MATEO POINT TO THE MEXICAN BORDER AND OUT 30 NM- 430 PM PST SAT FEB 21 2004 ...STORMY WET WEATHER PATTERN THROUGH LATE NEXT WEEK... A SERIES OF STORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THROUGH AT LEAST THURSDAY OF NEXT WEEK. STORMS THAT HAVE THE BEST POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAINFALL ARE MOST LIKELY TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY NIGHT...THEN AGAIN WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. THE STORM TRACK WILL REMAIN ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THROUGH MOST OF NEXT WEEK. STORMS WITH THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE EXTENDED MODERATE TO HEAVY PRECIPITATION ARE MOST LIKELY SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT...AND AGAIN WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. THE SATURATED ATMOSPHERE...COMBINED WITH INCREASING LOWER LEVEL SOUTHERLY FLOW...WILL INCREASE THE THREAT FOR MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY ALONG SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST FACING SLOPES...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE COASTAL SLOPES OF THE SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS AND IN THE PALOMAR MOUNTAIN AREA. MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL COULD CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY AS A STRONGER JET STREAM WILL INCREASE TEH CHANCES OF HEAVY RAIN. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR WIDESPREAD RAINFALL TOTALS OF ONE TO TWO INCHES ALONG AND WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS...WITH PEAK AMOUNTS SEVERAL INCHES HIGHER IN A FEW FAVORED SPOTS ON SOUTH FACING SLOPES...ESPECIALLY IN THE SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAINS. SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL...POSSIBLY A FOOT OR MORE...COULD FALL ABOVE 6000 FEET. THERE MAY BE A BIT OF A BREAK MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY. A STRONGER STORM IS POSSIBLE FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY WITH SHOWERS CONTINUING INTO FRIDAY. PEAK RAINFALL TOTALS OF SEVERAL INCHES ARE POSSIBLE DURING THIS PERIOD. PERSONS IN BURN AREAS AND LOW LYING OR FLOOD PRONE AREAS SHOULD PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO WEATHER UPDATES DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. HAVE PLANS TO EVACUATE QUICKLY AND ON SHORT NOTICE. PURPURA
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 flash flood, 3 heavy snow, 1 funnel cloud. 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: 5394570, 5392777, 5392778, 5392776, 5392774, 5392773, 5392780, 5392781, 5394659, 5392779, 5394571, 5392775.