Tsunami in California, November 15 to 16, 2006

Name: Tsunami in California, November 15 to 16, 2006
Start: 2006-11-15T11:38
End: 2006-11-16T01:00
Location: California

November 15 to 16, 2006 · NWS EKA · 1 event in 1 county or zone

3 magnitude earthquake off the Kuril Islands produced a tsunami that propagated across the Pacific Ocean and impacted the West Coast of North America, including California.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $9.2 million
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 EKA wrote it up.

An 8.3 magnitude earthquake off the Kuril Islands produced a tsunami that propagated across the Pacific Ocean and impacted the West Coast of North America, including California.

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 Eureka, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 15, 8:53 AM PST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 15, 8:53 AM PST, 2 hours 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EUREKA CA
ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
853 AM PST TUE NOV 15 2006

.SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD TODAY AND TONIGHT...BRINGING
DRYING AND CLEARING TO NORTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. A COLD FRONT WILL
APPROACH THE NORTH COAST WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND WILL MOVE ASHORE
AND INLAND BY EARLY THURSDAY MORNING. EXPECT ANOTHER ROUND OF RAIN
AND GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

&&

.UPDATE...CURRENT FORECAST ON TRACK...NO ZONE UPDATE NEEDED THIS
AM.

&&

.PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...DRIER AIR MASS WILL SETTLE OVER THE FORECAST
AREA TODAY AND HOLD THROUGH TONIGHT. GFS HAS THE NEXT FRONTAL SYSTEM
AT OUR DOOR STEPS BY AFTERNOON WEDNESDAY. NAM SOLUTION WAS A BIT
SLOWER BUT KEEPS THE RAIN GOING THROUGH 18Z THURSDAY. IN ANY
CASE...BOTH SOLUTIONS GENERATE A DECENT RAIN EVENT WED NIGHT. FASTER
GFS SEEMS BETTER IN ZONAL FLOW. SURFACE RIDGE DEVELOPS THU NIGHT AND
FRI. HOWEVER...SOLUTIONS BRING A WEAK SHORT-WAVE TROUGH OVER THE
AREA FRI AND FRI NIGHT. THUS WILL MAINTAIN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN.

SAT-MON...SHORT-WAVE RIDGE LOOKS TO BUILD ON SAT AND WE SHOULD
SEE DRY WEATHER DEVLP SAT THROUGH SAT NIGHT. WARM/MOIST AIR ADVECTION
AND SOUTHWESTERLY INFLOW WITH THE NEXT SYSTEM STARTS UP SUNDAY.
TIMING OF BEST RAIN CHANCES IS UNCERTAIN AND FOR NOW WILL GO WITH
A CHANCE OF RAIN OR SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN SUN-MON. DJB

&&

.AVIATION...LOCAL MVFR CONDITIONS LINGERING UKIAH THIS
MORNING...THOUGH CONDITIONS EXPECTED TO RISE TO VFR CONDITIONS
SHORTLY. OTHERWISE...MOSTLY VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED THROUGH THE DAY.

&&

.EKA...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM PT
ST GEORGE TO PT ARENA AND WESTWARD OUT TO 60 NM FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS.

&&

VISIT US AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/EUREKA

Event by event

1 tsunami. Local standard time, as filed.

Tsunami, Redwood Coast

When: November 15, 11:38 AM PST to November 16, 1:00 AM PST
Where: Redwood Coast forecast zone
Property damage: $9.2 million
Reported by: NWS Storm Survey

Tsunami surges affected Crescent City Harbor beginning at 1138PST and lasting for several hours. The peak wave height was 5.8 feet as measured trough to peak. No injuries or deaths resulted from this tsunami. Damage was limited to docks and boats in Crescent City Harbor. The damage was caused by the high velocity currents resulting from the tsunami. No other significant wave heights occurred elsewhere in Del Norte County.

What these are

Tsunami: A series of waves caused by an undersea earthquake, landslide or eruption.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in California, November 2006

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: 8484.