A strong Santa Ana wind event caused widespread tree and property damage in the Inland Empire. One hanger at Corona Airport sustained major damage, numerous tractor-trailers were overturned, hundreds of trees were blown over, and power was knocked out.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 strong Santa Ana wind event caused widespread tree and property damage in the Inland Empire. One hanger at Corona Airport sustained major damage, numerous tractor-trailers were overturned, hundreds of trees were blown over, and power was knocked out.
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 Jan 16, 6:00 PM PST, 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 600 PM PST WED JAN 16 2008 .SYNOPSIS...OFFSHORE FLOW WILL CAUSE LOCAL STRONG GUSTY WINDS THROUGH THURSDAY...MAINLY THROUGH AND BELOW MOUNTAIN CANYONS AND PASSES. WEAKER OFFSHORE FLOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY FOR MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES. UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE WILL BRING MORE CLOUDS AND COOLING EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS. && .DISCUSSION...FOR SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA INCLUDING SAN DIEGO... ORANGE...SOUTHWEST SAN BERNARDINO AND WEST RIVERSIDE COUNTIES. .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT-SAT)...CLEAR THIS EVENING EXCEPT FOR A FEW MID TO HIGH CLOUDS. THE 00Z NKX SOUNDING SHOWED WEAK NE WINDS IN THE LOW LEVELS AND NW WINDS ALOFT. INCREASING OFFSHORE GRADIENTS WITH ABOUT -13 MB SAN-TPH THERE WERE LOCAL GUSTY WINDS THROUGH AND BELOW MOUNTAIN CANYONS AND PASSES...ESPECIALLY BELOW THE CAJON PASS AND IN THE SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS. THE GRADIENT...UPPER AND THERMAL SUPPORT FOR OFFSHORE FLOW WILL PEAK LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY THU MORNING RESULTING IN LOCAL STRONG GUSTY WINDS. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE THROUGH AND BELOW MOUNTAIN CANYONS AND PASSES IN THE NRN AREAS WHERE THEY COULD GUSTS TO NEAR 80 MPH. WINDS WILL GUST TO AROUND 50 MPH NEAR OTHER MOUNTAINS CANYONS AND PASSES IN RIVERSIDE AND SAN DIEGO COUNTIES. THE WINDS WILL GRADUALLY DECREASE LATE THU AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WEAKER OFFSHORE FLOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SAT. THIS WILL BE A COOL OFFSHORE WIND EVENT WITH MOST TEMPS REMAINING BELOW SEASONAL. THE DRY OFFSHORE WINDS WILL CAUSE LOCAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS NEAR CRITICAL LEVELS BUT RECENT RAIN WILL MITIGATE ANY WIDESPREAD CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS. && .LONG TERM (SUN-WED)...ONSHORE WILL RETURN SUN WITH A DEVELOPING MARINE LAYER AND A COOLER DAY W OF THE MOUNTAINS. UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE DROPPING DOWN FROM THE N WILL BRING MORE CLOUDS AND COOLING WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS MON AND TUE. A FEW SHOWERS COULD LINGER INTO WED MORNING BUT DRYING WILL DEVELOP DURING THE DAY WED AS THE LOW MOVES E. THE EXACT TRACK OF THE LOW IS STILL UNCERTAIN BUT PRELIMINARY RAINFALL ESTIMATES ARE FOR ABOUT A QUARTER OF HALF AN INCH W OF THE MOUNTAINS WITH A COUPLE INCHES OF SNOW ABOVE 4000 FT. && .AVIATION... 162130Z...MOSTLY CLEAR AND VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THU. OFFSHORE WINDS WILL BE QUITE LOCALIZED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVE. LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR IS A GOOD BET THIS AFTERNOON NEAR THE COAST WHERE SFC WINDS ARE ONSHORE BUT WINDS JUST OFF THE SFC ARE OFFSHORE. OFFSHORE WINDS WILL STRENGTHEN AND BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD TONIGHT BETWEEN 04-10Z. THEY WILL PRODUCE UP AND DOWN DRAFTS AND POCKETS OF LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR OR ROTORS IN THE LEE OF MTNS AND HILLS...SUCH AS IN THE VICINITY OF ONT. WINDS WILL CONTINUE STRONG MOST OF THU. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 8 PM THURSDAY FOR SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS...SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS AND INLAND EMPIRE. SEE LAXNPWSGX. WIND ADVISORY UNTIL UNTIL 8 PM THURSDAY FOR ORANGE COUNTY... RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS...SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY INLAND VALLEYS. SEE LAXNPWSGX. && PUBLIC...DA AVIATION...MOEDE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 400 PM PST WED JAN 16 2008 CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-PZZ750-775-171200- 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- 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- 400 PM PST WED JAN 16 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...REMAINDER OF THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT DEVELOPING OFFSHORE FLOW WILL CAUSE LOCAL STRONG GUSTY WINDS...MAINLY THROUGH AND BELOW MOUNTAIN CANYONS AND PASSES. SEE LAXNPWSGX FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY OFFSHORE FLOW WILL CAUSE LOCAL STRONG GUSTY WINDS...MAINLY THROUGH AND BELOW MOUNTAIN CANYONS AND PASSES THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING. SEE LAXNPWSGX FOR DETAILS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SKYWARN WEATHER ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED FOR THIS AREA...HOWEVER WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Fremont Canyon RAWS measured an 82 mph wind gust.
A 65 mph wind gust was measured at Palm Avenue Elementary School. Elsewhere, the Ontario Airport ASOS measured sustained winds of 40 mph with a peak gust of 59 mph.
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, January 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: 78460, 79046.