1 dust devil, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 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 5, 1:30 PM PST, 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 230 PM PDT SUN SEP 5 2004 .SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL CONTINUE WARM TO HOT WEATHER INTO MID WEEK WITH MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES EXCEPT FOR VARIABLE HIGH CLOUDINESS. COOLER WITH A REDEVELOPING MARINE LAYER DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE WEEK AS UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE MOVES THROUGH. MOISTURE IN SOUTHERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING A SMALL CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TO THE MOUNTAINS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES. .SHORT TERM...MOSTLY CLEAR TODAY EXCEPT FOR A FEW HI CLOUDS FROM DISSIPATING TROPICAL SYSTEM HOWARD. THERE WAS ALSO PATCHY STRATUS OFFSHORE. THE 12Z NKX SOUNDING HAD A SURFACE BASED INVERSION WITH WARMING THROUGH MOST OF THE COLUMN...BUT ESPECIALLY IN THE LOW LEVELS. OFFSHORE GRADIENTS AND TRENDS WITH ABOUT -7 MB SAN-TPH AND IT WAS LOCALLY BREEZY TO WINDY IN AND BELOW THE MOUNTAINS. HI ALOFT BUILDS INTO TUE WITH INCREASING HEIGHTS...THICKNESS AND 850 MB TEMPS...LEVELING OFF WED. THE SYNOPTIC SCALE OFFSHORE GRADIENTS WILL GRADUALLY WEAKEN. A THERMAL LOW DEVELOPING OVER THE INTERIOR WILL CAUSE A STRONGER SEA BREEZE IN THE AFTERNOONS. HOT WEATHER WILL CONTINUE...ESPECIALLY IN THE INLAND VALLEYS...BUT WITH A SLIGHT COOLING TREND TUE AND WED. NOT AS HOT NEAR THE COAST WITH WEAKER OFFSHORE FLOW. THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS WILL CONTINUE A GRADUAL WARMING TREND INTO TUE WITH LITTLE CHANGE WED. THE HOT DRY WEATHER WILL CAUSE RELATIVELY HI FIRE DANGER BUT NOT QUITE TO RFW CRITERIA. THERE COULD BE LOCALIZED OFFSHORE BREEZES IN THE MORNINGS AND SEA BREEZES IN THE AFTERNOON. THE MARINE LAYER WILL REMAIN SHALLOW AND PATCHY. THERE WILL CONTINUE TO BE A FEW HI CLOUDS FROM HOWARD IN SW FLOW ALOFT. MID LEVEL MOISTURE INCREASES ON WED IN S TO SE FLOW FOR A SMALL CHANCE OF AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS IN THE SRN MOUNTAINS. SWELL FROM HOWARD WILL CAUSE HIGH SURF ON S FACING BEACHES INTO MON NIGHT. .LONG TERM...THE MID LEVEL MOISTURE INCREASES THU FOR A LITTLE BETTER CHANCE OF AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE MOUNTAINS...HOWEVER MODELS ARE DIVERGING AND CONFIDENCE IN THE SOLUTIONS REMAINS LOW. A DEVELOPING UPPER TROUGH WILL BRING COOLING AND MORE MARINE LAYER CLOUDS DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE WEEK. .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH SURF ADVISORY...SEE LAXCFWSGX. ATKIN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 1005 AM PDT SUN SEP 5 2004 CAZ042-043-061300- ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS- SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS- 1005 AM PDT SUN SEP 5 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT. ...A HIGH SURF ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY COAST AND FOR THE NORTHERN SAN DIEGO COUNTY COAST TODAY THROUGH 9 PM MONDAY... THE LARGE SOUTH SWELL WILL CREATE WIDESPREAD SURF OF 5 TO 7 FEET WITH OCCASIONAL SETS TO 9 FEET. THE HIGHEST SURF WILL BE ALONG MOST OF THE ORANGE COUNTY COAST. POINT AND REEF BREAKS IN SOUTHERN SAN DIEGO COUNTY WILL ALSO HAVE HIGH SURF BUT IT WILL NOT BE WIDESPREAD. THE SWELL IS EXPECTED TO PEAK TODAY AND MONDAY. THE SWELL WILL TURN TO THE SOUTHWEST TUESDAY AND IT WILL BEGIN TO DECREASE. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS TO FISH OR OBSERVE WAVES FROM ROCKS OR EXPOSED COASTAL STRUCTURES DURING HIGH SURF CONDITIONS. LARGE WAVES CAN SUDDENLY SWEEP ACROSS PREVIOUSLY DRY AREAS. THESE WAVES CAN BE DANGEROUS...EVEN FOR EXPERT SWIMMERS OR SURFERS. THE HIGH SURF WILL CAUSE DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS. RESIDENTS AND BEACH GOERS ALONG THE AFFECTED SHORES SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION UNTIL THE SURF SUBSIDES. SEE LAXCFWSGX...WHUS46 FOR MORE DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... MONDAY. THROUGH SATURDAY. THE HIGH SURF ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM MONDAY. OTHERWISE...NO WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. ATKIN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 dust devil. Local standard time, as filed.
A strong dust devil ripped a sign off a fence and threw it 40 feet away over a house. Other debris was seen flying through the air around the dust devil.
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, September 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: 5422707.