Seasonally dry conditions continued west of the mountains, while monsoonal flow aloft brought brief episodes of showers and thunderstorms to the mountains and deserts. S.
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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.
Seasonally dry conditions continued west of the mountains, while monsoonal flow aloft brought brief episodes of showers and thunderstorms to the mountains and deserts. This resulted in a D1 (moderate drought) classification by the U.S. Drought Monitor for Orange County and a D2 (severe drought) classification for the rest of the CWA. The statewide drought declaration made in June continues. This was mainly due to conditions farther north. Locally, the mayor of San Diego declared a water shortage emergency (stage 1) with a call for voluntary water conservation. However, no water shortages have been reported. Mandatory cutbacks have already begun for farmers in San Diego County, and could be extended to others by early next year.
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 Aug 31, 7:30 PM PST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 830 PM PDT SUN AUG 31 2008 .SYNOPSIS... A LOW PRESSURE TROUGH MOVING THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WILL CONTINUE ONSHORE FLOW AND A DEEP MARINE LAYER FOR THE BALANCE OF THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND. HIGH PRESSURE WILL GRADUALLY REBUILD OVER THE EAST PACIFIC...SLIMMING THE MARINE LAYER...AND PUSHING TEMPERATURES OVER INLAND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BACK ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK. NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL CUT-OFF ANY CHANCE OF MONSOONAL MOISTURE RETURNING TO THE AREA THROUGH AT LEAST NEXT WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES... STRONG ONSHORE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS UP TO 10 MBS FUELED GUSTY 30 TO 35 MPH WIND GUSTS OVER PORTIONS OF THE MOUNTAINS AND HIGH DESERTS EARLY THIS EVENING. THE 00Z MIRAMAR SOUNDING SHOWED AN INCREASE IN WEST FLOW IN THE MID TO LOWER LEVELS. THIS HAS BROUGHT COOLING...BUT ONLY MARGINAL DRYING. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY THROUGH 03Z SHOWED A TROUGH DEEPENING ALONG THE WEST COAST PER MODEL FORECASTS. EXPECT DRYING WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS...ESPECIALLY IN THE MID TO LOWER LEVELS AS NW FLOW CONTINUES ALOFT. THIS SHOULD INHIBIT ANY FURTHER CLOUD DEVELOPMENT OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. OF COURSE THE STORY WILL BE DIFFERENT W OF THE MOUNTAINS WHERE A FAIRLY DEEP MARINE LAYER AND A COASTAL EDDY SHOULD BRING EXTENSIVE STRATUS OVERNIGHT. THE NOCTURNAL STRATUS PATTERN WILL DECREASE IN EXTENT AND DURATION THROUGH THE WEEK AS THE MARINE LAYER THINS AND THE EDDY DISSIPATES. TEMPERATURES WILL BE SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL MONDAY...BUT REBOUND TO ABOVE NORMAL AGAIN TUE AND FOR THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK INLAND. CLOSE TO THE COAST...ONSHORE FLOW AND A SHALLOW MARINE LAYER SHOULD KEEP THE DAYS MILD. LOOKING AHEAD...LITTLE CHANGE THROUGH NEXT WEEKEND WITH VERY DRY AIR OVER SOCAL. SOME WEAKENING OF THE RIDGE ALOFT IS ADVERTISED BY THE MEDIUM RANGE GUIDANCE EARLY NEXT WEEK...SO SOME COOLING IS POSSIBLE THEN. && .AVIATION... 010330Z...THE BASE OF THE MARINE INVERSION AND STRATUS HAS RISEN TO AROUND 1600 FT MSL...AND THIS SHOULD RISE FURTHER TO AROUND 2400 FT BY MORNING. TOPS COULD REACH 3500 FT. STRATUS COVERED MOST OF THE ORANGE/SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS AND SHOULD SPREAD INLAND TO THE LOWER COASTAL SLOPES BY 12Z. LOCAL DENSE FOG WILL OCCUR IN THE 2500-3500 FT MSL RANGE AS WELL...BUT VSBYS WILL GENERALLY BE ABOVE 5 MILES AT LOWER ELEVATIONS. LOCAL SFC GUSTS OVER 25 KT WILL OCCUR OVER THE MTNS/DESERTS OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY. CLEARING WILL BE SLOW MONDAY...MOSTLY 16Z-18Z IN THE VALLEYS AND 19Z-21Z NEAR THE COAST WITH AREAS OF SCT-BKN STRATUS CONTINUING IN SOME COASTAL AREAS. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CA...NONE. PZ...NONE. && PUBLIC...JAD AVIATION/MARINE...MAXWELL NWS ON THE WEB AT WEATHER.GOV/SANDIEGO
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 945 AM PDT SUN AUG 31 2008 CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-312300- 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- 945 AM PDT SUN AUG 31 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR ALL OF EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE MOUNTAINS FOR THIS AFTERNOON ENDING BY SUNSET. OTHERWISE NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY. MARTIN/HORTON
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
11 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
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, September 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: 135790, 135791, 135792, 135793, 135794, 135795, 135796, 135797, 135798, 135799, 135800.