A piece of energy from an eastern Pacific trough brought isolated strong winds and moderate rainfall to northern California.
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 MTR wrote it up.
A piece of energy from an eastern Pacific trough brought isolated strong winds and moderate rainfall to northern California.
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 Feb 23, 3:45 PM PST, 1 hour earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA CA
345 PM PST TUE FEB 23 2010
.DISCUSSION...AS OF 2:30 PM PST TUESDAY...RAIN CONTINUES ACROSS THE
DISTRICT AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES THE COAST. THE FRONT IS STILL
OFFSHORE SINCE THE WINDS AT THE BUOYS ARE STILL FROM THE SE. EVEN
THOUGH THE SATL IMAGERY AND RADAR HAVE BEEN IMPRESSIVE...RAINFALL
AMOUNTS HAVE NOT BEEN ALL THAT IMPRESSIVE...MAINLY LESS THAN A HALF
INCH. HOWEVER...SATL IMAGERY CONTINUES TO INDC COOLING TOPS
OFFSHORE...AND THE BLENDED TPW PRODUCT IS INDC 1+ INCHES OF TPW OVER
THE DISTRICT...WITH A MAX OF 1.6 TPW NEAR 33/136.
GOES HIGH DENSITY WINDS ARE INDC DIFFLUENT FLOW ALOFT SO CLOUD TOPS
WILL CONTINUE TO COOL. WITH ANOTHER VORT APPROACHING 40/130 EXPECT
ANOTHER WAVE TO FORM ALONG THE FRONT...PREVENTING IT FROM RACING
ACROSS THE DISTRICT. THE COLD FRONT WILL SLOWLY MOVE ACROSS THE
DISTRICT TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING. RAIN WILL BE MODERATE AT
TIMES...WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN ALONG THE COLD FRONT ITSELF. SHOWERS
WILL CONTINUE ON WEDNESDAY...WITH A FEW SHOWERS POSSIBLE WED EVENING.
WEAK RIDGING WILL MOVE OVER THE DISTRICT AHEAD OF A STRONGER SYSTEM
THAT IS FORECAST TO AFFECT THE DISTRICT ON FRIDAY. WARM ADVECTION
RAIN WILL OVERSPREAD THE DISTRICT STARTING IN THE NORTH THURSDAY
NIGHT...WITH RAIN CONTINUING ON FRIDAY. RAIN COULD BE LOCALLY HEAVY
AT TIMES FRIDAY OR FRIDAY EVENING...THE ECMWF IS ABOUT 6 TO 12 HOURS
SLOWER THAN THE GFS. THE NAM12 BRINGS 50 KT 925 MB WINDS TO THE COAST
FRIDAY AFTN...BUT THE OTHER MODELS HAVE LESS WIND. THE SYSTEM ON
FRIDAY WILL BE MORE DYNAMIC...WITH 500 MB TEMPS DOWN TO -28C.
CONVECTIVE PARAMETERS ARE INDC INCREASING INSTABILITY FRIDAY NIGHT
AND SAT MORNING...SO THUNDER COULD BE POSSIBLE. HOWEVER...WILL NOT
PUT IT IN THE FCST THIS EARLY...WOULD LIKE TO SEE A COUPLE MORE RUNS
BEFORE JUMPING ON THAT TRAIN. THE ECMWF BRINGS A COLD UPPER TROF OVER
THE DISTRICT ON SAT...WITH MORE SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION. SHOWERS
WILL END ON SAT...OR SAT EVENING.
RIDGING WILL BUILD BACK IN TO THE DISTRICT FOR DRY WEATHER ON SUNDAY
INTO MONDAY. ANOTHER SYSTEM MOVES TO THE COAST LATE MONDAY AND
TUESDAY BRINGING ANOTHER CHANCE OF RAIN.
&&
.AVIATION...AS OF 3:45 PM PST TUESDAY...AREA RADAR SHOWS ADDITIONAL
BANDS OF RAIN MOVING IN OFF THE EASTERN PACIFIC. IR IMAGERY SHOWS A
COLD FRONT SLIDING INTO THE CENTRAL COAST. AREAS OF GUSTY SOUTHEAST
WINDS AND RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH THE EVENING. RAIN IS EXPECTED
TO LAST INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING.
VICINITY OF KSFO...MVFR WITH OCCASIONAL HEAVIER BANDS OF RAIN LATER
THIS EVENING. CIGS VERY LIKELY TO STAY IN MVFR CATEGORY THROUGH THE
EVENING. SOUTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 20 KT GUSTING TO 25KT.
KSFO BRIDGE APPROACH...SIMILAR TO KSFO.
MRY BAY AREA TERMINALS...RAIN CONTINUES TONIGHT WITH LOCAL IFR
VISIBILITIES DEVELOPING BY 02Z. MODERATE RAINS POSSIBLE BEGINNING
WEDNESDAY MORNING.
&&
.MTR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.TNGT...SCA...ALL COASTAL WATERS AND SF BAY.
PUBLIC FORECAST: MHS
AVIATION/MARINE: LARRY/CANEPA
NWS ON THE WEB AT WEATHER.GOV/SANFRANCISCOThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Brief heavy rain combined with strong wind to topple a pepperwood tree into power lines on Fitch Mountain Road in Healdsburg cutting power to 462 residents.
Brief heavy rain combined with strong wind to knock over a cypress tree onto Alta Drive in Aptos. Several other trees were toppled across Santa Cruz County. Also, a few minor rockslides and mudslides were reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2010
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: 216571, 216574.