1 rip current, 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 May 24, 1:00 PM PST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
200 PM PDT WED MAY 24 2006
.SYNOPSIS...
HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING FAIR AND WARMER WEATHER TODAY. A COASTAL
EDDY AND DEVELOPING TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE ALONG THE WEST COAST WILL
BRING COOLING...GUSTY AFTERNOON AND EVENING WINDS IN THE MOUNTAINS
AND DESERTS...AND A DEEPER AND MORE PERSISTENT MARINE LAYER BY
FRIDAY WITH THIS PATTERN PERSISTING THROUGH THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND.
FAIR AND WARMER WITH A DECREASING MARINE LAYER BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT
WEEK AS THE LOW PRESSURE WEAKENS.
&&
.DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTIES...
WEAK RIDGE OVER THE SOUTHWEST SHIFTS INLAND AND WEAKENS THURSDAY AND
FRIDAY IN RESPONSE TO A SHORTWAVE TROUGH THAT MOVES INTO THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST. WEATHER ASSOCIATED WITH THE TROUGH WILL REMAIN WELL TO
THE NORTH OF THE CWA BUT THE TROUGH WILL RESULT IN DEEPENING OF THE
MARINE LAYER WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS WHICH SHOULD BRING STRATUS/FOG
INLAND TO THE COASTAL SLOPES OF THE MOUNTAINS THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.
A COASTAL EDDY IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND
CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND HELPING TO MAINTAIN THE DEEP MARINE
LAYER. EXPECT LITTLE CLEARING WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS ALTHOUGH THE
MARINE LAYER MAY DEEPEN ENOUGH FOR A REVERSE CLEARING PATTERN...
CLEARING NEAR THE COAST BUT REMAINING CLOUDY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY INLAND.
MODELS SUGGEST THE SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL SHIFT EAST OF THE AREA
SUNDAY INTO MONDAY WITH SOME MINOR RIDGING OVER THE COAST ON MONDAY.
THIS SHOULD HELP LOWER THE MARINE LAYER EARLY NEXT WEEK FOR BETTER
CLEARING WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS AND SOME WARMING.
&&
.AVIATION...
VFR CONDITIONS UNDER MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES THIS AFTERNOON. LOW STRATUS
DECK OFF THE COAST EARLY THIS MORNING DISSIPATED AS THE MORNING
PROGRESSED. EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE
EVENING...THEN TURN MVFR/LOCALLY IFR AFT 06Z IN THE COASTAL AIRPORTS
AS THE MARINE LAYER DEVELOPS AND SURGES 5 TO 10 MILES INLAND. CIGS
BTW 08-14Z WILL RANGE FROM 006-010 WITH LOCAL VIS FROM 1-3SM IN
AREAS OF FOG.
&&
.SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CA...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK FROM 11 AM PDT THIS MORNING THROUGH LATE
MONDAY NIGHT FOR ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS-SAN DIEGO
COUNTY COASTAL AREAS.
PZ...NONE.
&&
PUBLIC...HORTON
AVIATION/MARINE...ECC
NWS ON THE WEB AT WEATHER.GOV/SANDIEGOThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
A 53-year-old man drowned at Sunset Cliffs when he was unable to make it back to shore.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rip Current, X W San Diego | 2006-05-24 | 53 | Male | In Water | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in California, May 2006
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: 5507757.