Strong Santa Ana winds caused power outages, blew over big rigs, and knocked down trees.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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.
Strong Santa Ana winds caused power outages, blew over big rigs, and knocked down trees.
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 Mar 30, 9:16 PM PST, 5 hours 53 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 916 PM PST WED MAR 30 2005 .SYNOPSIS...BUILDING HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GREAT BASIN IS FORCING INCREASINGLY DRY...OFFSHORE FLOW OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. WINDS WILL GET STRONG AND GUSTY THROUGH MOUNTAIN PASSES AND CANYONS TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING...AND AGAIN FRIDAY MORNING. IT WILL BE WARMER THROUGH FRIDAY AS WELL...THEN BEGIN TO COOL OVER THE WEEKEND WITH INCREASING HUMIDITY WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS AS WEAK LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPS INLAND. NO SIGNIFICANT RAIN IS FORESEEN THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES. EXCEPT FOR A FEW CUMULUS OVER THE FOOTHILLS OF THE SAN DIEGO MTNS THIS AFTERNOON...SKIES WERE CLEAR AND WILL NOW LIKELY STAY THAT WAY FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS ARE TURNING OFFSHORE AND SHOULD INCREASE THROUGH THE NIGHT. THE 00Z MIRAMAR SOUNDING SHOWED A WEAK INVERSION NEAR 1300 FT...AND A SECOND STRONGER ONE NEAR 7400 FT. DECENT WARMING WAS NOTED BELOW 800 MB AS WELL. WINDS BELOW 8K WERE WEAK E...THEN N UP TO 50 KTS THROUGH 18K FT. NOT MUCH WIND OF CONSEQUENCE SHOWING UP AT AREA SURFACE SENSORS THIS EVENING. SUSPECT AFTER MIDNIGHT...THAT WILL CHANGE. GET READY FOR VERY DRY...WARMER...AND BREEZY WEATHER FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AS THE OFFSHORE STRENGTHENS. IN ADDITION TO THE DUST THAT WILL BECOME AIRBORNE...THE POLLEN FROM THE MASSIVE BLOOM INLAND...AND THE VERY LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...HISTAMINES WILL BE WORKING OVERTIME IN INDIVIDUALS WITH ALLERGIES. THE PEAK OF THIS SANTA ANA EVENT IS EXPECTED LATE THU MORNING THROUGH PASSES AND CANYONS TO THE NORTH OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY...THEN DECREASE BEFORE PICKING UP AGAIN OVER MOST OF THE AREA FRI MORNING. THE WINDS ON FRI WILL NOT HAVE DEEP SUPPORT ALOFT...OR GOOD COLD ADVECTION...SO THEY WILL PRIMARILY BE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT DRIVEN AND WILL BE MORE WIDESPREAD IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY. LATEST MODEL DATA SUPPORTS THE HIGH WIND CRITERIA BEING MET THROUGH THE SANTA ANA CANYONS AND BELOW THE CAJON PASS THU. 00Z SOUNDING FROM DESERT ROCK SHOWS A NICE ELEVATED INVERSION NEAR 12K FT...WITH NEARLY 30KT OF SPEED SHEER ACROSS IT. THIS TYPE OF ATMOSPHERIC PROFILE CAN SOMETIMES HELP TO FOCUS AND SURFACE MTN WAVES. BY THE WEEKEND THE HIGH PRESSURE CENTER INLAND MOVES FARTHER TO THE EAST...AND ONSHORE FLOW BECOMES REESTABLISHED. THIS WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE THE RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND DECREASE TEMPS W OF THE MTNS. NO ZONE FORECAST UPDATES ARE PLANNED AT THIS TIME. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR INLAND EMPIRE AND SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS...WIND ADVISORY FOR OTHER MOUNTAINS...ORANGE COUNTY AND SAN DIEGO INLAND VALLEYS THROUGH 6 PM THURSDAY. SEE...LAXNPWSGX. JAD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 230 PM PST WED MAR 30 2005 CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-311400- 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- 230 PM PST WED MAR 30 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR ALL OF EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. INCREASING NORTHEAST WINDS WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS MAINLY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND INLAND VALLEYS TO ORANGE COUNTY. SEE LAXNPWSGX. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. STRONG GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS MAINLY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND INLAND VALLEYS TO ORANGE COUNTY THURSDAY...DECREASING THURSDAY EVENING. SEE LAXNPWSGX. MODERATE NORTHEAST TO EAST WINDS ARE POSSIBLE MAINLY THROUGH AND BELOW PASSES AND CANYONS THURSDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SKYWARN WEATHER SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED...HOWEVER WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. WHITLOW
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 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, March 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: 5440577, 5440576, 5440578.