A storm system moved over the western states causing locally strong winds over the higher terrain of California's central coast.
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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 MTR wrote it up.
A storm system moved over the western states causing locally strong winds over the higher terrain of California's central coast.
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 Francisco Bay Area, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 30, 2:25 AM PST, 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA CA
325 AM PDT MON MAR 30 2009
.DISCUSSION...AS OF 3:25 AM PDT MONDAY...CONTINUED DRY FOR THE WORK
WEEK. ANOTHER ROUND OF BREEZES THURSDAY/FRIDAY. POSSIBLE STORM NEXT
WEEK.
STILL SOME BREEZES ACROSS THE CWA EARLY THIS MORNING ESPECIALLY OVER
THE EAST BAY HILLS AND A FEW OF THE COASTAL AREAS. DID ALSO RECEIVE
ONE SPOTTER REPORT FROM REDWOOD ESTATES NEAR HIGHWAY 17 OF GUSTS TO
35 MPH DURING THE VERY EARLY MORNING HOURS. THESE WINDS ARE THE
RESULT OF A COMBINATION OF A MODERATE NORTHERLY SURFACE PRESSURE
GRADIENT ALONG WITH A GOOD GRADIENT ALOFT DUE TO AN UPPER-LEVEL
TROUGH IN NEVADA AND A RIDGE IN THE PACIFIC. AS THIS TROUGH MOVES TO
THE EAST AND IS REPLACED BY A RIDGE...WINDS WILL BE ON THE DECREASE
THROUGH THE DAY TODAY IN MANY SPOTS. COASTAL LOCATIONS...ESPECIALLY
THOSE PRONE TO WINDS DIRECTLY FROM THE EAST...WILL SEE ANOTHER ROUND
OF AFTERNOON BREEZES AS THE WESTERLY/ONSHORE GRADIENT KICKS BACK UP
CLOSE TO 2 MB WHILE THE NORTHERLY GRADIENT DROPS BACK TO 5 MB. UNDER
SUNNY SKIES HIGHS TODAY WILL BE IN THE 60S AND 70S WITH ONLY MID TO
UPPER 50S AT THE IMMEDIATE COASTLINE. TONIGHT SHOULD BE MOSTLY CLEAR
AS THE STATUS WILL STAY WELL OFF THE COAST. LOWS WILL BE IN THE UPPER
30S TO UPPER 40S.
QUIET WEATHER IS EXPECTED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WORK WEEK AS THE
MAIN STORM TRACK STAYS OFF TO OUR NORTH AND EAST. ALTHOUGH
PRECIPITATION WILL NOT BE A CONCERN WE WILL NEED TO KEEP A SHARP
EYE ON WINDS AS A TROUGH DROPS INTO NEVADA LATE THURSDAY AND DIGS TO
THE FOUR CORNERS AREA BY SATURDAY. IF THE TROUGH POSITION THAT THE
GFS AND ECMWF SUGGESTS DOES VERIFY IT WILL BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF
BREEZY CONDITIONS TO ALL SPOTS BY LATE THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY. SIMILAR
TO TODAY...THE WIND WOULD BEGIN TO DIMINISH OVER URBAN AREAS FIRST
AND THEN HIGHER ELEVATION SPOTS SECOND. THERE IS STILL TIME TO FINE-
TUNE THIS PORTION OF THE FORECAST...BUT AT THIS MOMENT 15 TO 25 MPH
WITH GUSTS TO 35 MPH LOOK TO BE IN THE CARDS PARTICULARLY IN
LOCATIONS THAT ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO STRONG WINDS FROM THE NORTH AND
NORTHWEST. HIGHS ON TUESDAY WILL BE IN THE 60S AND 70S AND WILL COOL
BACK INTO THE 50S AND 60S BY FRIDAY DUE TO THE TROUGH. LOWS WILL
GENERALLY BE IN THE UPPER 30S TO UPPER 40S ALTHOUGH BREEZES THURSDAY
NIGHT COULD PROVIDE A FEW SURPRISES ESPECIALLY OVER HIGHER ELEVATION
SPOTS SUCH AS NEAR HAWKEYE WHICH COULD KEEP THEM FROM DROPPING OUT OF
THE 50S. FOG IS FORECAST TO BE LIMITED JUST TO THE COAST AND THE VAST
MAJORITY OF THAT WILL BE OVER MONTEREY BAY...PARTICULARLY THE
SOUTHERN HALF.. WITH SOME OF IT EXPECTED TO GO INTO THE NORTHERN
SALINAS VALLEY.
OVER THE WEEKEND THE MODELS BRING A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM TOWARD THE
CALIFORNIA COAST. TIMING AND DEPTH OF THIS FEATURE CONTINUES TO
VARY...HOWEVER THE GENERAL TREND IS TOWARD THE WETTER ECMWF
SOLUTION. USING THAT BRINGS RAIN TO THE COAST BY SUNDAY AND ACROSS
THE ENTIRE CWA BY MONDAY. DESPITE WHAT LOOKS TO BE AN IMPRESSIVE
STORM ON THE CHARTS...WHAT APPEARS TO BE MISSING IS A SUBSTANTIAL
SUBTROPICAL TAP. GFS PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES ARE ONLY PROGGED
AROUND .50 WHICH IS HALF WHAT WE SAW WITH MOST OF THE STORMS
EARLIER THIS YEAR. WITHOUT A GOOD TAP...PRECIPITATION TOTALS WILL
NOT BE VERY HIGH. EARLY GFS/ECMWF NUMBERS BRING LESS THAN HALF AN
INCH OF RAIN FOR THE ENTIRE DURATION OVER URBAN SPOTS. THIS IS
STILL SEVEN DAYS DOWN THE ROAD SO THESE NUMBERS CAN GREATLY CHANGE
AS IT GETS CLOSER.
&&
.AVIATION...AS OF 10:40 PM PDT SUNDAY...VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED
TO PREVAIL THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. WINDS WILL REMAIN LIGHT TO
MODERATE OUT OF THE NORTH TO NORTHWEST. WINDS WILL INCREASE DURING
THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS ON MONDAY. AREA TERMINALS WILL SEE
SUSTAINED WINDS IN THE 15 TO 20 KT RANGE WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 KT.
&&
.MARINE...AS OF 10:50 PM PDT SUNDAY...GALE WARNINGS WILL CONTINUE
ACROSS THE COASTAL WATERS THROUGH TONIGHT. THE NORTHERLY GRADIENT
FROM ACV-SFO REMAINS OVER 8 MB AT THIS HOUR AND IS EXPECTED TO
PERSIST THROUGH TONIGHT. WINDS WILL DECREASE MONDAY MORNING HOWEVER
WIND WILL REMAIN WITHIN SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CRITERIA THROUGH THE
REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST PERIOD.
&&
.MTR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.TDA...SCA...ALL OCEAN WATERS EXCEPT BAYS.
SCA...ROUGH BAR CONDITIONS SAN FRANCISCO BAR.
PUBLIC FORECAST: BELL
AVIATION/MARINE: CW/CANEPA
NWS ON THE WEB AT WEATHER.GOV/SANFRANCISCOThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong winds caused a large pine tree to come crashing down onto Green Valley Road in front of Pinto Lake City Park.
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, March 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: 158997.