At least 15 homes in Idyllwild were moderately to severely damaged by falling trees and some residents were told to evacuate. Some trees fell on power lines in the Inland Empire, causing sporadic power outages and small tree fires.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.
At least 15 homes in Idyllwild were moderately to severely damaged by falling trees and some residents were told to evacuate. Some trees fell on power lines in the Inland Empire, causing sporadic power outages and small tree fires. Power was knocked out in spots throughout San Diego County as well. One big rig was toppled on I-8 near Buckman Springs.
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 3, 9:35 AM PST, 1 hour 11 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 935 AM PST THU FEB 3 2005 .SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GREAT BASIN COMBINED WITH STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS ALOFT WILL PRODUCE SANTA ANA WINDS THROUGH TODAY. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE THROUGH AND BELOW MOUNTAIN CANYONS. THE WINDS WILL DECREASE TONIGHT...BUT IT WILL STILL REMAIN BREEZY IN THE MOUNTAIN PASSES AND CANYONS THROUGH FRIDAY. ONSHORE FLOW WILL RETURN THIS WEEKEND BRINGING COOLER DAYS AND THE RETURN OF THE MARINE LAYER. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES. THE WATER VAPOR LOOP SHOWED A WELL DEFINED JET TRACKING DIRECTLY OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THIS MORNING. 12Z NKX SOUNDING INDICATED A WEAK INVERSION AROUND 700 MB WITH 50-60 KT EAST WINDS ABOVE 700 MB. AS THE INVERSION BREAKS DOWN...STRONG DOWNWARD FORCING WILL TRANSFER SOME OF THIS WIND ENERGY ALOFT TOWARD THE SURFACE RESULTING IN ANOTHER WINDY DAY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS. FUNNELING EFFECTS THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN PASSES WILL RESULT IN WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. WINDS HAVE ALREADY INCREASED THIS MORNING WITH A GUST TO 57 MPH AT JULIAN AT 800 AM. THE HIGH WIND WARNING WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT THROUGH THE AFTERNOON...AFTER WHICH THE UPPER SUPPORT DECREASES. SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS WILL REMAIN STRONGLY OFFSHORE TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING. THE SURFACE HIGH WILL DRIFT FROM NEVADA TO COLORADO TONIGHT...A POSITION FAVORABLE FOR GUSTY EAST WINDS TO CONTINUE IN THE SAN DIEGO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS. ON SATURDAY THE OFFSHORE EVENT WILL END AS A WEAK SHORTWAVE TROUGH SWEEPS ACROSS THE REGION. HIGH CLOUDS WILL INCREASE AS THE SYSTEM APPROACHES...AND THE MARINE LAYER WILL START TO REFORM AS PRESSURE GRADIENTS TURN MORE ONSHORE. INITIALLY THE MARINE LAYER WILL BE SURFACE BASED AS IT USUALLY IS AFTER AN OFFSHORE EVENT AND DENSE FOG WILL BE POSSIBLE AT THE COAST AS EARLY AS SATURDAY. THE MARINE LAYER WILL DEEPEN THROUGH THE WEEKEND WILL CLOUDS SPREADING FARTHER INLAND THROUGH SUNDAY. IN THE LONG TERM...ON MONDAY A STRONGER SHORTWAVE WILL SLIDE DOWN THE COAST AND CONTINUE TO DEEPEN THE MARINE LAYER. A MODEST INCREASE IN MID LEVEL MOISTURE WILL BRING MID AND HIGH CLOUDS BUT TOO EARLY TO TELL IF IT WILL BE ENOUGH TO GENERATE LIGHT SHOWERS. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNINGS AND WIND ADVISORIES UNTIL 600 PM TODAY...SEE LAXNPWSGX. && MOEDE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 600 AM PST THU FEB 3 2005 CAZ042-043-048-050-055-056-057-058-060-061-062-041400- 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 LUCERNE VALLEYS- COACHELLA VALLEY- SAN DIEGO COUNTY DESERTS- 600 AM PST THU FEB 3 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR ALL OF EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE OVER UTAH COMBINED WITH NORTHEAST WINDS ALOFT WILL CAUSE STRONG GUSTY SANTA ANA WINDS TODAY. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE THROUGH AND BELOW MOUNTAIN CANYONS AND PASSES THIS MORNING INTO EARLY AFTERNOON. DUE TO THIS WEATHER PATTERN...THE FOLLOWING HAZARDOUS WEATHER EVENTS ARE OCCURRING OR EXPECTED... .DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT. HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM TODAY FOR ORANGE 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- WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM TODAY FOR SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS- .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. LOCAL GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS BELOW THE PASSES FRIDAY MORNING. MACKECHNIE
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
654 AM PST THU FEB 03 2005
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0613 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG 35 E SAN DIEGO 32.71N 116.55W
02/02/2005 SAN DIEGO CA BROADCAST MEDIA
NEAR BUCKMAN SPRINGS ON I-8 ONE BIG RIG WAS TOPPLED OVER
DUE TO WIND GUSTS. A CHP OFFICER ESTIMATED A WIND OF 50
MPH NEAR THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT.
&&
SWASONPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
814 AM PST THU FEB 03 2005
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0646 AM NON-TSTM WND GST CUYAMACA PEAK 32.95N 116.61W
02/03/2005 64 MPH SAN DIEGO CA TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
MOEDEThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2005
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: 5441493, 5441494, 5441491, 5441492.