A 1032 mb high over the Great Basin, combined with strong upper-level North to Northeasterly winds, led to strong gusty offshore winds over Southern California which knocked down trees and telephone poles.
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.
A 1032 mb high over the Great Basin, combined with strong upper-level North to Northeasterly winds, led to strong gusty offshore winds over Southern California which knocked down trees and telephone poles.
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 Dec 9, 3:20 AM PST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
320 AM PST TUE DEC 9 2008
.SYNOPSIS...
SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GREAT BASIN AND NORTH FLOW ALOFT WILL
BRING MODERATE OFFSHORE WINDS TODAY WITH WEAKER OFFSHORE WINDS AT
TIMES INTO THURSDAY. HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT BUILDING OVER CALIFORNIA
WILL BRING WARMING THROUGH THURSDAY. FOR THE WEEKEND THROUGH EARLY
NEXT WEEK...A DEVELOPING STRONG TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE ALONG THE
WEST COAST WILL BRING BREEZY AND MUCH COOLER CONDITIONS WITH A
CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION.
&&
.DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTIES...
.SHORT TERM (TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY)...
SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE IN THE GREAT BASIN AND MODERATE TO STRONG
NORTH FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING MODERATE TO LOCALLY STRONG SANTA ANA
WINDS TODAY WITH STRONGEST WINDS IN NORTHERN AREAS. RECENT AIRCRAFT
SOUNDINGS FROM ONTARIO SHOW WINDS OF AROUND 50 KNOTS AT 5000 FEET.
WITH A RESIDUAL MOIST LAYER IN THE LOWEST 2000 FEET. GUSTY SANTA ANA
WINDS WILL DEVELOP AND STRENGTHEN IN THE PASSES AND CANYONS AND IN
THE FOOTHILLS THROUGH SUNRISE...THEN GRADUALLY EXPAND INTO THE LOWER
ELEVATIONS THROUGH MID MORNING. THE WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MID
AFTERNOON...THE SLOWLY SUBSIDE IN THE LATE AFTERNOON. WEAKER SANTA
WINDS...POSSIBLY NEAR ADVISORY STRENGTH IN THE WINDIER LOCATIONS...
MAY CONTINUE TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. BUILDING HIGH
PRESSURE ALOFT OVER CALIFORNIA WILL BRING WARMING INTO THURSDAY.
RESIDUAL CLOUDS IN SOUTHERN COASTAL AREAS OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY ARE
EXPECTED TO SCATTER OUT THIS MORNING AS THE OFFSHORE FLOW DEVELOPS
AND STRENGTHENS.
&&
.LONG TERM (FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY)...
FOR FRIDAY...LOWER LEVEL FLOW WILL TREND BACK ONSHORE WITH FOG
POSSIBLE NEAR THE COAST. THE WEAK ONSHORE FLOW WILL ALSO BRING SLOW
COOLING. FOR SATURDAY THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK...A STRONG TROUGH OF
LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPING ALONG THE WEST COAST WILL BRING MUCH COOLER
TEMPERATURES...GUSTY WINDS AT TIMES...AND A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION.
NCEP HPC GENERALLY PREFERS TO THE ECWMF TO THE GFS. THIS MAINTAINS A
COOLER AND MOIST PATTERN INTO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK...BUT ABSENT
STRONGER EMBEDDED SHORTWAVES SHOWN IN SOME RUNS OF THE GFS.
&&
.AVIATION...
091100Z...GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS WILL PREVAIL TODAY WITH PLENTY OF
TURBULENCE NEAR MTS AND BELOW PASSES. WINDS WILL WEAKEN A BIT THIS
PM THEN RENEW EARLY WED AM. SKIES MOSTLY CLEAR EXCEPT FOR A BATCH OF
3000 FT MSL STRATUS VICINITY OF KSAN TIL DAWN THIS AM.
&&
.SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CA...WIND ADVISORY FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING TO 4 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON
FOR ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS.
HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 4 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON FOR SAN
BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTY VALLEYS-THE INLAND EMPIRE-
SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON FOR SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTY MOUNTAINS.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON
FOR RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
SAN DIEGO COUNTY VALLEYS.
PZ...NONE.
&&
PUBLIC...MARTIN
AVIATION/MARINE...MACKECHNIE
NWS ON THE WEB AT WEATHER.GOV/SANDIEGOHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 400 AM PST TUE DEC 9 2008 PZ750-755-CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-101400- COASTAL WATERS FROM SAN MATEO POINT TO THE MEXICAN BORDER AND OUT 30 NM- WATERS FROM SAN MATEO POINT TO THE MEXICAN BORDER EXTENDING 30 TO 60 NM OUT INCLUDING SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND- 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- 400 AM PST TUE DEC 9 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR ALL OF EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. HIGH WIND WARNINGS AND WIND ADVISORIES FOR MODERATE TO LOCALLY STRONG SANTA ANA WINDS FOR PORTIONS OF THE MOUNTAINS...VALLEYS...AND INLAND COASTAL AREAS. SEE LAXNPWSGX FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY A STRONG TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE ALONG THE WEST COAST FOR THE WEEKEND THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK MAY BRING MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES...GUSTY WINDS AT TIMES...AND A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN WEATHER ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED FOR THIS AREA... HOWEVER WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS. MARTIN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Sustained winds of 45 MPH with gusts to 65 MPH were measured at the Fremont Canyon RAWS at 6:30 AM.
Telephone pole was blown down in Rubidoux, CA.
Wind gusts of 61 MPH were measured at the Descanso 4N mesonet.
Wind gusts of 58 MPH or greater were measured by the Ranger Peak RAWS between 10:07 AM and 5:07 PM. A peak gust of 67 MPH was measured at 3:07 PM.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 2008
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: 145328, 145331, 145329, 145330.