California, 2010High Surf in California, May 23, 2010
May 23, 2010 · NWS MTR · 1 event in 1 county or zone
A typical Spring time day brought sea conditions of six to eight foot waves and west to northwest winds of 20 gusting to 30 knots to the San Francisco coastline.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
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- Deaths
- 2
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
A typical Spring time day brought sea conditions of six to eight foot waves and west to northwest winds of 20 gusting to 30 knots to the San Francisco coastline.
What forecasters said that day
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 May 23, 1:16 PM PST, 2 hours 44 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 23, 1:16 PM PST, 2 hours 44 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA CA
216 PM PDT SUN MAY 23 2010
...RAIN RETURNS TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT ACROSS THE DISTRICT...
.DISCUSSION...AS OF 2:00 PM PDT SUNDAY...SKIES ARE MOSTLY SUNNY
ACROSS THE DISTRICT. TEMPS ARE MAINLY IN THE MID 50S TO AROUND 70
ACROSS THE DISTRICT...BASICALLY 5 TO 15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THE
ARCATA-SFO GRADIENT IS AT 3.7 MB AND THE ONSHORE GRADIENT BETWEEN
SFO-SAC IS AT A ROBUST 3.0 MB. WINDS HAVE BEEN GUSTY ACROSS SOME OF
THE PASSES SUCH AS PACHECO PASS WHICH IS GUSTING TO 31 MPH.
WEAK RIDGING WILL BRING DRY WEATHER TO THE DISTRICT THROUGH MONDAY
NIGHT. TEMPS WILL BE BELOW NORMAL THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT WITH 850 MB
TEMPS BETWEEN 3 TO 5C.
THE DRY WEATHER WILL BE SHORT-LIVED AS ANOTHER COLD UPPER TROUGH
DROPS SOUTH FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA. THE PARENT UPPER LOW IS NEAR
50/140...BUT AMSU IMAGERY IS INDC TPW OF UP TO 1.5 INCHES BEING
PULLED INTO THIS SYSTEM. A COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER LOW
WILL MOVE ACROSS THE DISTRICT TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT. THE GFS IS
INDC LAYERED TPW OF UP TO 1.3 INCHES OVER THE DISTRICT DURING THIS
TIME. THEREFORE...HAVE BUMPED UP POPS TO LIKELY OVER THE DISTRICT
NORTH OF SAN JOSE ON TUESDAY WITH LIKELY POPS ACROSS THE DISTRICT
TUESDAY NIGHT. THE ONLY EXCEPTION IS IN INTERIOR MONTEREY AND SAN
BENITO COUNTIES WHERE THE POPS ARE IN THE HIGH CHANCE CATEGORY. TEMPS
WILL REMAIN WELL BELOW NORMAL.
HAVE KEPT A MENTION OF SHOWERS RIGHT THROUGH THE END OF THE WORK WEEK
AS THE UPPER LOW SINKS SOUTH TO THE NORTHERN CA COAST BY FRIDAY AFTN.
HARD TO TIME IMPULSES ROTATING AROUND THE UPPER LOW...AS WELL AS SOME
INSTABILITY WITH THE COLD AIR ALOFT WILL KEEP THE CHANCE OF SHOWERS
GOING. TEMPS WILL CONTINUE TO BE MUCH BELOW NORMAL.
WEAK RIDGING WILL BRING DRY WEATHER TO THE DISTRICT OVER THE UPCOMING
HOLIDAY WEEKEND. TEMPS WILL WARM SOMEWHAT...BUT WILL REMAIN A LITTLE
BELOW NORMAL AS THE RIDGE WILL BE FLAT. IN FACT...THE GFS HAS BEEN
TRENDING TOWARDS DROPPING ANOTHER TROUGH SOUTH TO THE COAST NEXT
WEEKEND. HOWEVER...HAVE FOLLOWED THE ECMWF WHICH IS MORE IN LINE WITH
CLIMATOLOGY FOR THE END OF MAY.
&&
.AVIATION DISCUSSION...AS OF 10:45 AM PDT SUNDAY...18Z TAFS. VFR
TODAY WITH MAINLY CLEAR SKIES. WESTERLY WINDS STARTING TO PICK UP
AND WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. HIGH CLOUDS
WILL DEVELOP AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH NEXT SYSTEM AND WINDS TURNING LIGHT
SOUTHERLY/SE BY SUNRISE MONDAY.
VICINITY OF KSFO...VFR. WEST WINDS 20G30KT STARTING 20Z AND
CONTINUING THROUGH ABOUT 04Z. HIGH CLOUDS INCREASE TOWARDS MORNING
WITH LIGHT SE WINDS MONDAY MORNING AHEAD OF THE NEXT BOUNDARY.
KSFO BRIDGE APPROACH...SIMILAR TO KSFO. VFR WITH CLEAR SKIES TODAY.
MRY BAY AREA TERMINALS...VFR WITH CLEAR SKIES TODAY. AFTERNOON
SEABREEZE WINDS STARTING BY 21Z WITH GUSTS TO 22 KT KSNS. EXPECT VFR
OVERNIGHT WITH SOME POSSIBLE HIGH CLOUDS LATE. WINDS COULD TURN SE
BY EARLY MONDAY MORNING.
&&
.CLIMATE...RECORD LOW DATA FOR MAY 23RD (SUNDAY MORNING)
LOCATION RECORD LOW TEMP YEAR OF RECORD
KENTFIELD 43 1999
MOFFETT FIELD 45 1945
NAPA 36 1949
OAKLAND DOWNTOWN 50 2009
KOAK 46 2002
RICHMOND 45 1976
KSFO 46 1954
SAN FRANCISCO 47 1909
SAN JOSE 35 1895
SAN RAFAEL 40 1977
SANTA ROSA 34 1909
GILROY 41 1976
KING CITY 35 1960
MONTEREY 44 2002
SALINAS 39 1980
SANTA CRUZ 38 1911
&&
.MTR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.TNGT...SCA...OCEAN AND ALL BAYS.
&&
PUBLIC FORECAST: MHS
CLIMATE: LARRY
AVIATION/MARINE: RW
NWS ON THE WEB AT WEATHER.GOV/SANFRANCISCOHigh Surf, San Francisco
- When
- May 23, 4:00 PM PST to 5:00 PM PST
- Where
- San Francisco forecast zone
- Deaths
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Reported by
- Coast Guard
- Coordinates
- 37.778, -122.442 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
A severely damaged thirty foot sailing vessel was found abandoned by its occupants near Seal Rocks, San Francisco, California. The vessel had water in it and all of the windows had been blown out as if hit by a large wave. The couple who were on board perished in the accident.
- High Surf
- Large waves breaking on the shore that caused damage, erosion or casualties.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Heat in Illinois, May 23 to 26, 20104 deaths · 2 events
- Tornadoes and Hail in New Mexico, May 23 to 24, 2010$711,000 · EF2 · 26 events
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Kansas, May 23, 2010$218,000 · EF1 · 51 events
- Tornado and Hail in Texas, May 23, 2010$58,000 · EF2 · 5 events
- Tornado and Hail in Colorado, May 23, 2010$509,000 · EF1 · 12 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, May 23, 2010$269,000 · 1.75 in hail · 19 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, May 23, 2010$68,000 · 2.5 in hail · 31 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, May 23, 2010$210,000 · 1 in hail · 3 events
- Tornadoes and Hail in Oklahoma, May 23, 2010$28,000 · EF1 · 8 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, May 23, 2010$49,000 · 1 in hail · 6 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, May 23, 2010$35,000 · 1.25 in hail · 9 events
- Dust Devil in Nevada, May 23, 2010$50,000 · 1 event
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: 237139.