Isolated thunderstorms developed in the afternoon over the San Bernardino and Riverside County deserts. A storm in La Quinta, CA produced winds up to 61 MPH.
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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.
Isolated thunderstorms developed in the afternoon over the San Bernardino and Riverside County deserts. A storm in La Quinta, CA produced winds up to 61 MPH.
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 Jul 19, 12:25 PM PST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 125 PM PDT SUN JUL 19 2009 .SYNOPSIS...STRONG HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE SOUTHWEST WILL CONTINUE HOT WEATHER THIS WEEK. MID-LEVEL MOISTURE IN SOUTHEAST FLOW WILL CAUSE A FEW THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS TODAY...AND AGAIN MONDAY. A FEW STORMS COULD DRIFT INTO THE FOOTHILLS. A SHALLOW MARINE LAYER WILL KEEP COASTAL AREAS COOLER AND BRING AREAS OF LOW CLOUDS AND FOG AT TIMES DURING THE NIGHTS AND MORNINGS. && .DISCUSSION...FOR SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA INCLUDING SAN DIEGO... ORANGE...SOUTHWEST SAN BERNARDINO AND WEST RIVERSIDE COUNTIES. SKIES WERE MOSTLY SUNNY OVER THE CWA AT MIDDAY WITH CUMULUS BUILDING OVER THE MOUNTAINS. SURFACE DEWPOINTS WERE UP BETWEEN 1 AND 3 DEGREES C FROM VALUES YESTERDAY. TEMPS WERE IN THE 90S TO 108 INLAND WHILE COASTAL AREAS WERE COMFORTABLY IN THE 70S TO MID 80S. DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER A PORTION OF THE SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS AT 20Z...BUT NO OTHER AREAS OF RAIN. SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS WERE QUITE WEAK AND SLIGHTLY MORE OFFSHORE THAN YESTERDAY AT 20Z. EXPECT THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE WE WILL SEE MORE SHOWERS/TSTORMS FIRE FARTHER SOUTH IN THE RIVERSIDE AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS LATER THIS AFTERNOON WITH THE VERY HIGH TEMPS AND ELEVATED DEW POINTS. EVEN THE VALLEYS WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A THUNDERSTORM OR TWO BEFORE THE DAY IS OUT WITH THE EAST FLOW ALOFT. ONCE THE SUN SETS...EXPECT THINGS WILL QUITE DOWN RAPIDLY. CLOSER TO THE COAST...THE SEA BREEZE SHOULD PICK UP AND COOL AREAS LOCALLY INLAND. BROAD HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT OVER THE SW SHIFTS AROUND AND WEAKENS SLIGHTLY OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. MODELS DO NOT AGREE ON THE EXACT DETAILS...SO NAILING DOWN SPECIFICS ON MAX TEMPS AND THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL BE TRICKY. IN GENERAL...THE HIGH WEAKENS A BIT BUT MOVES LITTLE SO IT WILL CONTINUE HOT INLAND...AND RELATIVELY MILD AT THE COAST AS THE THERMAL LOW CONTINUES TO DRAW IN MARINE AIR ON WELL DEVELOPED AFTERNOON SEA BREEZES. SOME CHANCE OF CONVECTION WILL LIKELY CONTINUE UNTIL THE MID-LEVEL WINDS TURN MORE WESTERLY AND THE LAYER DRIES OUT A BIT MORE. LONGER RANGE PROGS SHOW LITTLE MOVEMENT IN THE LONG-WAVE PATTERN THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH A STRONG HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE OVER THE WEST...AND A TROUGH OVER THE EASTERN STATES. THIS WOULD FAVOR CONTINUED ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPS HERE...AND GIVEN THE UPPER-LEVEL FLOW...OCCASIONAL SHOTS OF MOISTURE. HOWEVER...THE MOISTURE NEVER APPEARS SUFFICIENT TO ASSIGN POPS IN THE ZFP BEYOND MONDAY. && .AVIATION 192000Z...MARINE LAYER DEPTH WILL REMAIN AROUND 1100 FT THROUGH MONDAY. PATCHY STRATUS IS POSSIBLE ALONG THE COAST MONDAY MORNING WITH BASES AROUND 900 FT MSL. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS WITH BASES AROUND 10-15K FT AND TOPS TO 40K FT. MAX TEMPS TODAY...KPSP 45C...KONT 37C...KSNA 30C...KSAN 27C. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SEE LAXSPSSGX. && PUBLIC...JAD AVIATION...SCV
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 345 PM PDT SUN JUL 19 2009 CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-PZZ750-775-201200- 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- 345 PM PDT SUN JUL 19 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MOUNTAINS...DESERTS AND FOOTHILLS THROUGH THIS EVENING. THE FLASH FLOOD POTENTIAL INDEX IS MODERATE...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED AND ISOLATED FLASH FLOODING IS POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS MONDAY AFTERNOON. THE FLASH FLOOD POTENTIAL IS LOW...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AND THE FLASH FLOOD POTENTIAL IS MINIMAL. CONTINUED HOT THIS WEEK. TO AVOID HEAT EXHAUSTION...STAY HYDRATED AND AVOID STRENUOUS OUTDOOR ACTIVITY DURING THE WARMEST PART OF THE DAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SKYWARN WEATHER ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED FOR THIS AREA...HOWEVER WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS. MOEDE
The San Diego radar (KNKX), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:39 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained spotter reported a 61 MPH wind gust around 1650 PST near the southern part of La Quinta Cove. The storm also produced brief heavy rain and frequent lightning.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 2009
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: 188335.