A winter storm moved through Santa Barbara county, bringing gusty southeast to south winds to the mountains.
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 LOX wrote it up.
A winter storm moved through Santa Barbara county, bringing gusty southeast to south winds to the mountains.
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 Los Angeles, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 7, 4:00 AM PST, 3 hours 21 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA 400 AM PST TUE FEB 7 2012 .SYNOPSIS... A LOW WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION TODAY AND WILL EXIT THE AREA LATE TONIGHT. IT WILL BRING RAIN...GUSTY WINDS AND COOLER TEMPERATURES. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD IN WEDNESDAY AND WILL PRODUCE FAIR BREEZY AND WARM WEATHER INTO FRIDAY. A WEAK LOW WILL APPROACH ON SATURDAY FOR INCREASED CLOUDINESS AND A SLIGHT COOLING TREND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .SHORT TERM (TODAY-THU)... LARGE COLD FRONT IS JUST OFF THE CENTRAL COAST. IT IS MOVING A LITTLE SLOWER THAN FORECAST DUE TO A DEVELOPING SECONDARY LOW ALONG ITS BACKSIDE. THIS SYSTEM IS...UNFORTUNATELY...NOT A CLASSIC STORM AND IT WILL NOT TRACK OVER THE AREA. RATHER IT WILL JUST GRAZE THE AREA AS IT SLIDES DOWN THE COAST. WHILE THE SATELLITE LOOKS VERY IMPRESSIVE...THE RADARS AND THE RAIN GAUGES TELL A MUCH DIFFERENT STORY WITH NO RAIN CURRENTLY FALLING OVER ANY PART OF THE FORECAST AREA. THE NEWLY UPGRADED VANDENBERG RADAR SHOWS THE RAIN FALLING ABOUT 10 MILES OFFSHORE AND SLOWLY MOVING TOWARDS THE COAST. ADJUSTED THE RAIN FORECAST AND NOW BRING THE RAIN TO THE CENTRAL COAST LATER THIS MORNING AND TO L.A. COUNTY LATER THIS AFTERNOON. VENTURA COUNTY IS HOPELESSLY TRICKY AND COULD MAKE A DECENT ARGUMENT FOR RAIN STARTING AT MID MORNING OR MID AFTERNOON...WENT WITH A LATE MORNING RAIN ARRIVAL BUT DO NOT HAVE ANY GREAT CONFIDENCE IN THAT. DECREASED THE RAINFALL AMOUNTS AS WELL BUT NOT AS CONFIDENT ABOUT THAT EITHER AS THERE COULD BE LESS RAIN AS THE BULK OF THE PRECIP STAYS OFFSHORE OR THERE COULD BE SEVERAL AREAS OF REALLY GOOD RAINFALL AS THE SLOW MOVING SYSTEM ALLOWS FOR A LONG DURATION SOAKING IN A FEW AREAS. THIS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE A RAINFALL PATTERN LIKE MANY STORMS THIS SEASON WITH THE BEST RAINFALL FALLING OVER THE COASTS WITH LESSER AMOUNTS IN THE MOUNTAINS. RIGHT NOW THINK THE BEST RAINFALL FORECAST IS FOR ABOUT A HALF INCH OF RAINFALL SOUTH OF POINT CONCEPTION AND ABOUT THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH SOUTH OF POINT CONCEPTION. THE INTERIOR SECTIONS WILL LIKELY SEE MUCH LESS. SNOW LEVELS WILL START OUT FAIRLY HIGH AND WILL NOT DROP MUCH UNTIL LATER TONIGHT. LOOK FOR ALMOST ALL OF THE SNOW TO FALL ABOVE 6000 FEET AND PERHAPS EVEN HIGHER. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS ARE FORECAST TO BE 3 TO 7 INCHES BUT THESE AMOUNTS WILL LIKELY BE ON THE LOW SIDE OF THAT RANGE. THIS SYSTEM IS PRODUCING QUITE A BIT OF WIND...UNFORTUNATELY IT IS ALL STAYING ABOVE THE SURFACE. AS THE STORM APPROACHES AND THE RAIN STARTS THESE WINDS WILL MIX DOWN AND THERE WILL BE FREQUENT GUSTS BETWEEN 35 AND 45 MPH ACROSS SLO AND SBA COUNTY COASTS AND VLYS WITH WARNING LEVEL 60 MPH GUSTS ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS. THERE WILL BE ADVISORY LEVEL WINDS ACROSS THE VTA/LA MTNS LATER THIS MORNING AS WELL. THE LOW WILL BE A LITTLE TOO FAR AWAY TO PRODUCE ADVISORY LEVEL WINDS ACROSS THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF L.A. VTA COUNTY...ADVISORY LEVEL GUSTS FROM 50 TO 55 MPH WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE LA/VTA MTNS. THESE WINDS WILL DIMINISH LATER IN THE AFTERNOON AS THE SFC LOW MOVES AWAY FROM THE AREA. WITH ALL THE SOUTH FLOW AND LITTLE OR NO COLD AIR ADVECTION MAX TEMPS TODAY WILL NOT BE ALL THAT COOL...ESP ACROSS L.A. COUNTY. THE SYSTEM WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST WARD OVER SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND LATER THIS EVENING. THE RAIN WILL TURN TO SHOWERS IN THE STORMS WAKE. IT WILL ALSO DRAG THE RAIN DOWN ALONG WITH IT. RAINFALL WILL END FIRST ACROSS SLO COUNTY AND THEN L.A. COUNTY TOWARDS DAWN WEDNESDAY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL START TO BUILD INTO THE AREA WEDNESDAY. AT FIRST A SURFACE HIGH WILL BUILD INTO THE GREAT BASIN THIS OFFSHORE FLOW WILL CREATE ENOUGH LOW LEVEL DRYING TO ELIMINATE ANY LINGERING CHC OF SHOWERS. THERE WILL BE SOME WARMING BUT THE HIGHER HGTS WITH THE UPPER HIGH ARE DELAYED UNTIL LATER THE AFTERNOON SO THERE WILL NOT BE THAT MUCH WARMING. THURSDAY WILL BE A CLASSIC SANTA ANA DAY. HIGH PRESSURE OVERHEAD WILL COMBINE GOOD OFFSHORE FLOW TO CREATE 15 TO 25 MPH CANYON WINDS AND A NICE WARM UP WITH MANY COASTAL AND VLY LOCATIONS SEEING MAX TEMPS IN THE MID TO UPPER 70S. LITTLE IF ANYTHING CHANGES ON FRIDAY AND IT SHOULD BE A CARBON COPY OF THURSDAY. .LONG TERM (SAT-MON)... ALL MEDIUM RANGE MODELS AGREE THAT A WEAK TROF WILL SLIDE OVER THE AREA SATURDAY...KNOCKING DOWN THE RIDGE AND SWITCHING THE OFFSHORE FLOW TO ONSHORE. LOOK FOR COOL TEMPS AND PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES EACH DAY SAT AND SUN. A LITTLE RIDGE POPS UP MONDAY AND THERE WILL BE CLEARER SKIES AND A COUPLE DEGREES OF WARMING. && .AVIATION... 07/1200Z A STORM SYSTEM TRACKING TO THE SW OF THE FORECAST AREA WILL CAUSE RAIN TO OVERSPREAD THE REGION THIS MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON...WITH RAIN CONTINUING THROUGH THIS EVENING BEFORE DECREASING. CLOUDS WILL LOWER AND THICKEN THIS MORNING...WITH WIDESPREAD MVFR CONDS IN MOST AREAS BY AFTERNOON. THERE WILL BE LOCAL IFR CONDS IN HEAVIER BANDS OF RAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. GUSTY SE WINDS WILL AFFECT SLO AND SBA COUNTIES...AND THE MTNS OF L.A. AND VTU COUNTIES TODAY. CONDS WILL IMPROVE TO VFR IN MOST AREAS BY LATE TONIGHT. KLAX...LOW CONFIDENCE IN TAF. THERE IS A 20 TO 30 PERCENT CHANCE THAT MVFR CONDS COULD ARRIVE AS EARLY AS 17Z...AND A 10 TO 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF IFR CIGS FROM 18Z TO 04Z WED. THERE IS A 20 TO 30 PERCENT CHANCE THAT EAST WINDS WILL REMAIN UNDER 10 KNOTS THROUGH TONIGHT. KBUR...LOW TO MODERATE CONFIDENCE IN TAF. THERE IS A 20 TO 30 PERCENT CHANCE THAT MVFR CONDS COULD ARRIVE AS EARLY AS 17Z...AND A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF IFR CIGS FROM 18Z TO 04Z WED. && .LOX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING (SEE LAXNPWLOX). WIND ADVISORY (SEE LAXNPWLOX). WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY (SEE LAXWSWLOX). GALE WARNING (SEE LAXMWWLOX). SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY (SEE LAXMWWLOX). HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK (SEE LAXSRFLOX). MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT (SEE LAXMWSLOX). SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT (SEE LAXSPSLOX). && PUBLIC...RORKE AVIATION...BRUNO SYNOPSIS...SETO WWW.WEATHER.GOV/LOSANGELES
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA 600 AM PST TUE FEB 7 2012 CAZ034>041-044>046-051>054-059-087-088-547-548-081400- SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY CENTRAL COAST- SANTA BARBARA COUNTY CENTRAL COAST-SANTA YNEZ VALLEY- SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY INTERIOR VALLEYS-CUYAMA VALLEY- SANTA BARBARA COUNTY SOUTH COAST-VENTURA COUNTY COAST- LOS ANGELES COUNTY COAST INCLUDING DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES- VENTURA COUNTY INTERIOR VALLEYS-VENTURA COUNTY COASTAL VALLEYS- SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS RECREATIONAL AREA- SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- SANTA BARBARA COUNTY MOUNTAINS-VENTURA COUNTY MOUNTAINS- LOS ANGELES COUNTY MOUNTAINS EXCLUDING THE SANTA MONICA RANGE- ANTELOPE VALLEY-CATALINA ISLAND-SANTA CLARITA VALLEY- LOS ANGELES COUNTY SAN FERNANDO VALLEY- LOS ANGELES COUNTY SAN GABRIEL VALLEY- 600 AM PST TUE FEB 7 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE... TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG SOUTHEAST WINDS WILL SWEEP THROUGH THE REGION TODAY...WITH THE STRONGEST WINDS OVER SAN LUIS OBISPO AND SANTA BARBARA COUNTIES...ESPECIALLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS WHERE POTENTIALLY DAMAGING GUSTS OVER 60 MPH ARE EXPECTED. THERE WILL ALSO BE GALE FORCE WINDS WITH POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS SEAS ACROSS ALL COASTAL WATERS NORTH OF SAN NICOLAS ISLAND. LIGHT RAIN WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TODAY CREATING MULTIPLE TRAFFIC HAZARDS.SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ABOVE 6000 FEET ELEVATIONS WILL CREATE WINTER WEATHER HAZARDS ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS OF LOS ANGELES AND VENTURA COUNTIES. * HIGH WIND WARNING..........SEE WWUS76 KLOX - NPWLOX FOR DETAILS * * WIND ADVISORY..............SEE WWUS76 KLOX - NPWLOX FOR DETAILS * * GALE WARNING...............SEE WHUS76 KLOX - MWWLOX FOR DETAILS * * SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT..SEE WWUS86 KLOX - SPSLOX FOR DETAILS * .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY A LARGE SWELL WILL FOLLOW THE STORM ON WEDNESDAY...BRINGING HIGH SURF AND AN INCREASED RISK FOR RIP CURRENTS TO MOST AREA BEACHES...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE BEACHES AND HARBORS OF THE CENTRAL COAST. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. ASR
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A sensor at La Cumbre Peak reported a sustained southerly wind of 42 MPH.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2012
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: 365628.