Name: High Surf in California, September 5 to 6, 2004
Start: 2004-09-05T09:00
End: 2004-09-06T15:00
Location: California

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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.

Powerful surf ranging in size from 6 to 12 ft generated by Hurricane Howard resulted in over 1000 rescues during the hottest day of the year at Orange County beaches. 25 people were rescued in one incident alone at Main Beach in Laguna when a dozen 8-10 ft waves overpowered a group of swimmers. The combination of widespread 100 degree temperatures and 72 degree water temperatures drove an estimated 575,000 people to Orange County beaches over the Labor Day weekend.

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 5, 9:00 AM PST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 5, 9:00 AM PST, 0 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
1000 AM PDT SUN SEP 5 2004

.SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL CONTINUE WARM WEATHER INTO MID
WEEK WITH HOT DAYS INLAND AND 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...UPDATED FOR HIGH SURF ADVISORY. 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.

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. THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS WILL CONTINUE A
GRADUAL WARMING TREND INTO 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 ELEVATED SURF ON S FACING BEACHES INTO MON.

.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

Event by event

1 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.

High Surf, W/S Orange

When: September 5, 9:00 AM PST to September 6, 3:00 PM PST
Where: W/S Orange forecast zone
Reported by: COASTAL OBSERVING STATION

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

More

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: 5423857.