Damaging Wind in California, September 11, 2004

Name: Damaging Wind in California, September 11, 2004
Start: 2004-09-11T17:00
End: 2004-09-11T17:30
Location: California

September 11, 2004 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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: $100,000
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 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 Sep 11, 1:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 11, 1:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
230 PM PDT SAT SEP 11 2004

.SYNOPSIS...THE MOIST SUBTROPICAL FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE THE STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS INTO THE EVENING BEFORE
TAPERING OFF.  A FLASH FLOOD WATCH WILL BE IN EFFECT FOR THESE AREAS
TIL 8 PM. A GRADUAL COOLING AND DRYING TREND WILL BEGIN ON
SUNDAY...AND CONTINUE INTO THE EARLY PART OF NEXT WEEK FOR COOLER
WEATHER...AND AN INCREASE IN MARINE LAYER CLOUDS.

&&

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

ALTHOUGH QUITE WEAK...THE WEAK UPPER TROUGH IS MAKING ITS PRESENCE
FELT...WITH FLOODING IN THE UPPER DESERTS.  THIS ACTIVITY MAY FIRE UP
HERE IN THE SOUTHERN AREAS BEFORE ALL IS SAID AND DONE...BUT MAY BE
LESS THAN YESTERDAY.

MODELS STILL WANT TO SLOWLY DRY OUT THE AIRMASS INTO NEXT WEEK AS AN
UPPER LEVEL TROUGH APPROACHES.  THIS SHOULD CAUSE SOME INCREASE IN THE
ONSHORE FLOW AND SOME DEEPENING OF THE MARINE LAYER FOR MORE CLOUDS
AND SOME COOLING.  ALSO HEIGHTS AND THICKNESSES SHOULD LOWER TO
FINALLY BEGIN THE COOLING TREND INLAND AREAS.  THE WESTERLY FLOW
SHOULD PUSH THE MID LEVEL MOISTURE SOUTH AND EAST AND REDUCE THE
THUNDERSTORM THREAT ON SUNDAY...AND END THE THREAT EARLY NEXT WEEK.

&&

.SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FLASH FLOOD WATCH...........LAXFFASGX.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...LAXHWOSGX.

&&

SMALL

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 11, 3:00 AM PST, 14 hours before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
400 AM PDT SAT SEP 11 2004

CAZ055-056-058-060>062-121300-
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
APPLE AND YUCCA VALLEYS-
COACHELLA VALLEY-
SAN DIEGO COUNTY DESERTS-
400 AM PDT SAT SEP 11 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA.

.DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS THIS
AFTERNOON. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH WILL BE IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 8 PM.
REFER TO LAXFFASGX WGUS66 KSGX FOR DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.

ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE MOUNTAINS SUNDAY.

MOEDE

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 11, 1:39 PM PST, 3 hours 21 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
239 PM PDT SAT SEP 11 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0114 PM     FLASH FLOOD      22 ESE LUCERNE VALLEY   34.32N 116.61W
09/11/2004                   SAN BERNARDINO     CA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            WATER COVERING HIGHWAY 247

0210 PM     FLASH FLOOD      17 ESE LUCERNE VALLEY   34.35N 116.69W
09/11/2004                   SAN BERNARDINO     CA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            1 BIG RIG AND 2 VEHICLES STUCK IN WASH ACROSS HIGHWAY
            247. HIGHWAY COMPLETELY WASHED OUT AT PONY ROAD.

&&

RB

Local storm report, Sep 11, 4:43 PM PST, 17 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
543 PM PDT SAT SEP 11 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0540 PM     HAIL             1 S BORREGO SPRINGS     33.22N 116.35W
09/11/2004  1.00 INCH        SAN DIEGO          CA   TRAINED SPOTTER

            HAIL BROKE A WINDOW.

0540 PM     TSTM WND DMG     1 S BORREGO SPRINGS     33.22N 116.35W
09/11/2004                   SAN DIEGO          CA   TRAINED SPOTTER

            WIND BLEW OVER ANEMOMETER. WIND GUSTS WERE ESTIMATED TO
            BE AS HIGH AS 60 MPH.

&&

BM

The radar

The San Diego radar (KNKX), 108 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Riverside

When: September 11, 5:00 PM PST to 5:30 PM PST
Where: Riverside County, La Quinta
Measured: 39 kt (45 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.667, -116.300

Thunderstorm wind gusts toppled at least 138 trees at "The Palms" golfcourse in La Quinta. One tree caused damage when it fell into a maintenance building. Other area golfcourses also reported downed trees. A building at Avenue 58 and Madison Street had its roof tiles blown off which resulted in some minor water damage to the interior. Nine utility poles were blown over and four transformers were lost as a result of the winds. At around the same time, nearby Thermal Airport reported a gust of 46 mph, but it is possible that winds were gusting to around 70 mph or greater in the La Quinta area.

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, September 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: 5422712.