High Surf, X W San Diego
- When
- January 13, 2:26 AM PST to 8:14 AM PST
- Where
- X W San Diego forecast zone
- Property damage
- $30,000
- Reported by
- DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
- Coordinates
- 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Surf in California, January 13, 2004
Runup from breaking surf, combined with high tide, and flooded the south bound lanes State Highway 75, between Coronado and Imperial Beach.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $30,000
- 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.
Runup from breaking surf, combined with high tide, and flooded the south bound lanes State Highway 75, between Coronado and Imperial Beach.
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 Jan 12, 8:55 PM PST, 5 hours 31 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 12, 8:55 PM PST, 5 hours 31 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO 855 PM PST MON JAN 12 2004 .SYNOPSIS...THE MARINE LAYER WILL BRING AREAS OF COASTAL LOW CLOUDS WITH LOCALLY DENSE FOG LATE TONIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING...MAINLY ON THE MESAS. OTHERWISE...HIGH PRESSURE WILL KEEP THE WEATHER FAIR THROUGH WEDNESDAY. UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE WILL BRING MORE CLOUDS AND COOLING THURSDAY FOLLOWED BY OFFSHORE FLOW FRIDAY. ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM COULD BRING MORE CLOUDS AND COOLING EARLY NEXT WEEK. SWELL FROM A PACIFIC STORM WILL BRING LARGE SURF EARLY THIS WEEK. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES. SKIES WERE MOSTLY CLEAR THIS EVENING...THOUGH DEW POINTS MOSTLY IN THE LOWER 50S ON THE MESAS WILL TRANSLATE TO SOME LOCALLY DENSE FOG OVERNIGHT. IF THE DENSE FOG STARTS TO BECOME WIDESPREAD...THEN A DENSE FOG ADVISORY WOULD BE NEEDED. THE OVERALL PATTERN IS RATHER WEAK AS MODERATE HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT OVER THE WEST COAST IS FORCING THE MAIN SYSTEMS TO GO WELL TO THE NORTH. WEAK LOW PRESSURE OVER THE EAST PACIFIC WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA THURSDAY...BUT PROGS ARE GENERALLY INDICATING THAT THE MOISTURE WILL BE AT AND ABOVE 700 MB...AND THAT MOISTURE WILL NOT EVEN BE EXCESSIVE. SO...THERE COULD BE VIRGA BUT NO REAL PRECIP. THE MARINE LAYER LIKELY WILL NOT HAVE ENOUGH MOISTURE TO CONTRIBUTE TO ANY PRECIP. TEMPS ALOFT WILL COOL...SO INLAND/MTN/DESERT TEMPS WILL FOLLOW. SO...I WILL KEEP THE ZONES DRY. THE LOW IS EXPECTED TO INTENSIFY FRIDAY AS IT MOVES SE...SO THE GRADIENTS COULD INCREASE BEHIND IT TO BRING SOME GUSTY WINDS THROUGH PASSES/CANYONS. A SIMILAR WEAK SYSTEM COULD MOVE THROUGH THE AREA EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH LITTLE OR NO PRECIP. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT...SEE LAXMWSSGX. && MAXWELL
Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 12, 2:00 PM PST, 12 hours 26 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 200 PM PST MON JAN 12 2004 CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-131400- 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 JAN 12 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT LARGE SWELL IN THE COASTAL WATERS WITH HIGH SURF TONIGHT REFER TO LAXMWSSGX FZUS76 KSGX FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY POSSIBLE HIGH SURF WITH SURF 7 FEET OR GREATER TUESDAY FOR... INNER WATERS... OUTER WATERS... ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS... SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS... ATKIN
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- High Surf
- Large waves breaking on the shore that caused damage, erosion or casualties.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Dense Fog in Oklahoma, January 13 to 14, 2004
- Cold in Maine, January 13 to 16, 2004
- Cold in New York, January 13 to 14, 2004
- Cold in Vermont, January 13 to 14, 2004
- Cold in New Hampshire, January 13 to 16, 2004
- Cold in New York, January 13 to 14, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Minnesota, January 13 to 14, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, January 13 to 14, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Alaska, January 13, 2004
- Dense Fog in Colorado, January 13, 2004
- High Wind in Alaska, January 13 to 15, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Minnesota, January 13 to 14, 2004
More
Every storm in California in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 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: 5382536.