A winter storm moving southeast from the Gulf of Alaska, picked up tropical moisture before it moved onshore. The warmer air mass caused the snow level to remain high during most of the precipitaion event, so that measured snow fall was less than eight inches in the mountains.
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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 moving southeast from the Gulf of Alaska, picked up tropical moisture before it moved onshore. The warmer air mass caused the snow level to remain high during most of the precipitaion event, so that measured snow fall was less than eight inches in the mountains. However strong winds did occur in the mountains and heavy rain fell over much of Southern California. Most roads along the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains, both on the north and south side were closed due to flooding and mud slides. Also, over Orange County and San Diego County, several major highways and secondary roads were closed due to flooding.
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 25, 9:30 PM PST, 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO 930 PM PST WED FEB 25 2004 .SYNOPSIS...A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL BRING HEAVY RAIN AT TIMES TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING. THE SNOW LEVEL WILL START OUT ABOVE 7000 FEET AND THEN LOWER TO NEAR 5000 FEET ON THURSDAY. SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY...DECREASING FRIDAY NIGHT AND ENDING EARLY SATURDAY. THE STORM WILL BRING STRONG GUSTY WINDS TO THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS AND WILL ALSO BRING VERY LARGE SURF. DRYING OVER THE WEEKEND UNDER WEAK HIGH PRESSURE. A MUCH WEAKER STORM WILL BRING A CHANCE OF SHOWERS EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES. .SHORT TERM...UPDATED ZONES TO MAKE A FEW MINOR CORRECTIONS. RAIN WAS SPREADING IN FROM THE NW THIS EVE. WHILE THE 00Z NKX SOUNDING WILL NOT BE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE AIR MASS THAT WILL SOON BE OVER OUR CWFA...IT DID SHOW MODERATELY STRONG WLY WINDS ALOFT AND A FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10 KFT. ONSHORE GRADIENTS...ESPECIALLY TO THE NE WITH ABOUT 8 MB SAN-TPH. THE COLD FRONT WILL BRING A 3 TO 6 HOUR PERIOD OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN TO MUCH OF THE CWFA LATE TONIGHT INTO EARLY THU AM. STRONG WINDS...LOWERING SNOW LEVELS AND INCREASING SURF WILL ACCOMPANY AND FOLLOW THE FRONT. SEE THE PRODUCTS LISTED BELOW FOR DETAILS. THE CONTINUOUS PRECIP SHOULD TURN TO SHOWERS AND TAPER OFF RAPIDLY EARLY THU AM. SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THU. ANOTHER SHORT WAVE SHOULD REINFORCE THE SHOWERS A LITTLE ON FRI WITH POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS. A FEW SHOWERS COULD LINGERING INTO SAT AM. DRIER NW FLOW DEVELOPS DURING THE DAY SAT FOR DECREASING CLOUDS. .LONG TERM...WEAK RIDGING FOR DRY WEATHER SUN. A COUPLE OF INSIDE SLIDERS SHOULD BRING MORE CLOUDS AND COOLING MON AND AGAIN TOWARD NEXT THU. CHANCE OF SHOWERS WITH THE FIRST SHORT WAVE...MAINLY MON NIGHT INTO EARLY TUE AM. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH...LAXFLSSGX. WIND ADVISORY...LAXNPWSGX. COASTAL FLOOD WATCH...LAXCFWSGX. HIGH SURF ADVISORY...LAXMWSSGX. WINTER STORM WARNING/WATCH...LAXWSWSGX. RIVER STATEMENT...LAXRVSSGX. && ATKIN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 600 AM PST WED FEB 25 2004 CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-261400- 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 WED FEB 25 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT 1) FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL OF EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA FROM 6 PM TONIGHT UNTIL NOON THURSDAY... FLOOD WATCH FOR THE SAN DIEGO RIVER AT FASHION VALLEY FROM 6 PM TONIGHT UNTIL NOON THURSDAY... REFER TO LAXFLSSGX WGUS86 KSGX FOR DETAILS. 2) HIGH SURF ADVISORY FROM 600 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH 600 AM SATURDAY FOR ORANGE AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTS... REFER TO LAXMWSSGX FZUS76 KSGX FOR DETAILS. 3) SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY... REFER TO LAXCWFSGX FZUS56 KSGX FOR DETAILS. 4) COASTAL FLOOD WATCH FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT THROUGH 600 AM FRIDAY FOR THE COASTS OF ORANGE AND SAN DIEGO COUNTIES... REFER TO LAXCFWSGX WHUS46 KSGX FOR DETAILS. 5) WIND ADVISORY FROM 6 PM TONIGHT UNTIL 6 AM THURSDAY FOR SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- APPLE AND YUCCA VALLEYS- COACHELLA VALLEY- SAN DIEGO COUNTY DESERTS- REFER TO LAXNPWSGX WWUS76 KSGX FOR DETAILS. A STRONG PACIFIC STORM WILL AFFECT SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA LATE TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY... 6) REFER TO LAXESFSGX FGUS76 KSGX FOR DETAILS. 7) REFER TO LAXSPSSGX WWUS86 KSGX FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...COLD UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL LINGER OVER THE SOUTHWEST STATES WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS FOR SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA. HIGH SURF WILL CONTINUE AT THE BEACHES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TONIGHT AND THURSDAY. XXX666 NNNN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
13 flash flood, 1 high wind. 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: 5394668, 5394669, 5394679, 5394672, 5394670, 5394673, 5394671, 5394680, 5394674, 5394675, 5394676, 5394681, 5394677, 5394678.