Flood and High Wind in California, December 19, 2013

Name: Flood and High Wind in California, December 19, 2013
Start: 2013-12-19T02:00
End: 2013-12-19T13:30
Location: California

December 19, 2013 · NWS SGX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.

A strong, upper-level trough brought colder weather along with rain, mountain snow and gusty southwest to west winds to the region. Light rain began during the early morning on the 19th, with most precipitation ending west of the mountains later that night. Showers lingered over the mountains and deserts into the 20th, as moisture wrapped around the surface low pressure system, exiting to the southeast. Coastal and inland valley locations generally received between one-tenth and one-half of an inch of rain, with up to one inch in the coastal foothills of San Diego and San Bernardino Counties. The upper deserts varied widely from no rain in Victorville to one-half inch at the Mojave Dam. Only a few hundredths were reported in the Coachella Valley. Snow levels lowered to 3500 to 4000 feet, bringing 2 to 5 inches of snow to mountain locations above 4500 feet and trace amounts below. Chains were required on Palomar Mountain. This was the last significant precipitation until late January of 2014. Cold air instability also resulted in scattered thunderstorms during the afternoon of the 19th in the valleys and high desert. Very small hail and flooding was reported by a spotter in Anaheim on Miraloma Street between Fee Ana Street and Lakeview, where water flooded over the curbs and in the intersection up to 6 inches deep in places. A spotter in Phelan sent photos of small hail covering their yard. The Coachella Valley saw the highest wind gusts overnight and into the morning of the 19th, with a few in the San Diego County mountains as well.

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 Diego, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 18, 9:00 PM PST, 5 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 18, 9:00 PM PST, 5 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
900 PM PST WED DEC 18 2013

.SYNOPSIS...
A LOW PRESSURE TROUGH WILL BRING COLDER WEATHER THURSDAY ALONG WITH
RAIN...MOUNTAIN SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS. LIGHT RAIN WILL BEGIN LATE
TONIGHT AND BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD ON THURSDAY. SNOW WILL FALL IN
THE MOUNTAINS ABOVE 4000 FEET WHERE A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY WILL
BE IN EFFECT TOMORROW. SHOWERS WILL END THURSDAY NIGHT IN MOST AREAS
WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS...BUT LINGER INTO FRIDAY AFTERNOON OVER THE
MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. FAIR AND DRY WITH A WARMING TREND THIS
WEEKEND.

&&

.DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTIES...

SATELLITE IMAGERY THIS EVENING SHOWS A SOLID DECK OF LOW CLOUDS
EXTENDING SEVERAL HUNDRED MILES OUT TO SEA. THE CLOUD DEPTH WAS
AROUND 2000 FEET AND WILL RAPIDLY DEEPEN TO AROUND 5000 FEET
OVERNIGHT WITH CLOUDS SPREADING ACROSS THE FOOTHILLS AND COASTAL
MOUNTAIN SLOPES BY MORNING.

SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE WEATHER TOMORROW AS A STRONG UPPER LEVEL
LOW BRINGS RAIN...SNOW...STRONG WINDS AND MUCH COLDER WEATHER. THE
WATER VAPOR LOOP SHOWS THIS COMPACT UPPER LOW OFF THE NORCAL COAST
THIS EVENING. THE MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE TRACK AND
STRENGTH OF THIS POTENT UPPER LOW TAKING IT SOUTHWARD TO NEAR PT
CONCEPTION EARLY THURSDAY MORNING. THIS TROUGH DEVELOPS INTO A
CLOSED UPPER LOW OVER THE SO-CAL COASTAL WATERS THURSDAY AFTERNOON
BEFORE MOVING ACROSS NORTHERN BAJA THURSDAY NIGHT.

THE BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE REACHES A DEPTH OF 10KFT FEET THURSDAY
AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND THIS IS WHEN RAINFALL COVERAGE AND
INTENSITY WILL BE MAXIMIZED. HIGHEST RAIN TOTALS WILL BE OVER THE
COASTAL MOUNTAIN SLOPES FROM STRONG OROGRAPHICS WHERE UPWARDS OF AN
INCH OF RAIN IS EXPECTED. HIGHEST TOTALS WILL LIKELY BE IN SAN DIEGO
COUNTY WHERE THE WESTERLY UPSLOPE FLOW LASTS THE LONGEST. LAPSE
RATES INCREASE THURSDAY AFTERNOON WITH THE ADVANCING 500 MB COLD
CORE LOWERING TEMPS TO -25C THURSDAY EVENING. CAPE VALUES INCREASE
TO 200-400 J/KG IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE
MOST LIKELY. THE STRONGEST CELLS WILL CONTAIN MODERATE TO HEAVY
DOWNPOURS AND GRAUPEL.

THE OROGRAPHIC MACHINE SHUTS DOWN THURSDAY NIGHT AS THE UPPER LOW
MOVES INTO NORTHERN BAJA AND THE WINDS SHIFT EASTERLY. THE BEST
CHANCES FOR PRECIP THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY WILL BE OVER THE
DESERTS AND EASTERN MOUNTAIN SLOPES FROM WRAP AROUND MOISTURE NORTH
OF THE LOW.

THE HIGHEST RAIN AMTS WILL LIKELY FALL IN THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY
MOUNTAINS...AND THE LOWEST AMOUNTS WILL LIKELY BE IN RAIN-SHADOWED
AREAS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE. ORANGE COUNTY WILL PROBABLY SEE LESS
RAINFALL THAN SAN DIEGO COUNTY BASED WESTERLY OVERWATER TRACK OF THE
LOW. RAIN TOTALS OF ONE-QUARTER TO THREE-QUARTERS OF AN INCH SHOULD
BE THE RULE WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS...WITH ONE-TENTH TO ONE-QUARTER IN
THE INLAND EMPIRE. THE DESERTS AND THE EASTERN MOUNTAIN SLOPES
SHOULD SEE SOME RAIN THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY IN THE WRAP AROUND
FLOW...WITH AMOUNTS FROM A FEW HUNDREDTHS TO AS MUCH AS TWO TENTHS
OF AN INCH.

SNOW LEVELS STARTING OUT AROUND 6000 FEET THURSDAY MORNING WILL
BOTTOM OUT BETWEEN 3500 AND 4000 FEET THURSDAY NIGHT WITH SEVERAL
INCHES OF SNOW LIKELY ON THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. A FEW FAVORED SPOTS
ON THE HIGHER PEAKS MAY SEE UP TO SIX INCHES OF SNOWFALL. A WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY COVERS THE EXPECTED SNOWFALL AND GUSTY WINDS AT
HIGHER ELEVATIONS ON THURSDAY.

STRONG WEST WINDS ALOFT AND DOUBLE DIGIT ONSHORE PRESSURE GRADIENTS
WILL CRANK UP THE WINDS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS LATE TONIGHT
THROUGH THURSDAY TO 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS OF 50 TO 55 MPH. PEAK
GUSTS TO 60 MPH IN THE SURFACING MOUNTAIN WAVES ON THE EASTERN
MOUNTAIN SLOPES. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY.

THE LOW MOVES EAST OF THE REGION FRIDAY WITH DRY NORTHERLY FLOW AND
GRADUAL WARMING SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY AS A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE
OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC DRIFTS TOWARD THE WEST COAST. DRY...MILD
WEATHER IS PROGGED OVER THE SOUTHWEST THROUGH CHRISTMAS DAY BY THE
GFS AND CANADIAN MODELS. THE OUTLIER ECMWF DIGS A DEEP CLOSED LOW
OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AND AS OF NOW THERE IS LOW CONFIDENCE IN
THIS SOLUTION.

&&

.AVIATION...
190430Z...COAST/VALLEYS/MTN COASTAL SLOPES...STRATUS WITH BASES
1500-2200 FT MSL WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD INTO THE VALLEYS THIS
EVENING. BASES WILL LIFT TO AROUND 2000-2600 FT OVERNIGHT WITH TOPS
TO 4000-4500 FT. PATCHY DRIZZLE POSSIBLE TONIGHT. ISOLATED LIGHT
SHOWERS DEVELOPING AFTER 14Z...BECOMING WIDESPREAD AND INCREASING IN
INTENSITY DURING THE AFTERNOON. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT CHC OF TSTMS
DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. CIGS LOWERING TO 1000 FT MSL AND
VSBY OF 2-4SM POSSIBLE IN HEAVIER SHOWERS/TSTMS. SHOWERS TAPERING
OFF THU NIGHT. COASTAL MOUNTAINS SLOPES WILL BE OBSCURED IN
CLOUDS/FOG THROUGH THU NIGHT.

MTN DESERT SLOPES/DESERTS...W TO SW WINDS WITH SFC GUSTS 35-45 KT
WILL RESULT IN STG-SVR UDDFS/ROTORS/LLWS OVER THE MTNS AND ADJACENT
DESERT FOOTHILLS TONIGHT THROUGH THU AFTERNOON. LOCAL VIS AOB 5SM
POSSIBLE DUE TO BLDU. OTHERWISE...CHANCE OF SHOWERS THU AFTERNOON
AND PERIODS OF SCT-BKN CLOUD LAYERS BETWEEN 6000-15000 FT MSL.

&&

.MARINE...
A TROUGH MOVING THROUGH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ON THURSDAY WILL BRING
WEST WINDS GUSTING TO 25 KT AND CHOPPY SEAS. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY
REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE COASTAL WATERS TOMORROW. THIS TROUGH WILL
ALSO BRING SHOWERS AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS...MAINLY THU
MORNING THROUGH THU EVENING. SEE THE MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT FOR
MORE DETAILS.

A LONG PERIOD SWELL WILL ARRIVE SATURDAY NIGHT...PEAKING SUNDAY AT
4-5 FT/18-20 SECONDS...SLOWLY LOWERING MONDAY INTO WEDNESDAY. THIS
SWELL WILL LIKELY PRODUCE ELEVATED TO HIGH SURF AND STRONG RIP
CURRENTS ALONG THE BEACHES OF SOUTHERN SAN DIEGO AND NORTHERN ORANGE
COUNTIES.

&&

SKYWARN ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUESTED THURSDAY.

&&

.SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CA...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 7 AM THURSDAY TO 1 AM PST FRIDAY
     FOR THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS...SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
     MOUNTAINS...SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS.

     WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 PM PST THURSDAY FOR THE APPLE
     AND LUCERNE VALLEYS...COACHELLA VALLEY...RIVERSIDE
     COUNTY MOUNTAINS...SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
     MOUNTAINS...SAN DIEGO COUNTY DESERTS...SAN DIEGO COUNTY
     MOUNTAINS.

PZ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM 8 AM TO 8 PM PST THURSDAY FOR THE
     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.

&&

PUBLIC...MOEDE
AVIATION/MARINE...SS

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 high wind, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, San Diego County Mountains

When: December 19, 2:00 AM PST to 6:00 AM PST
Where: San Diego County Mountains forecast zone
Measured: 57 kt (66 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High winds occurred at the Volcan Mountain SDGE mesonet between 0150-0650 PST on the 19th with a peak gust of 66 mph recorded between 0420-0430 PST.|High winds occurred at the Harrison Park mesonet between 0200-0230 PST on the 19th with a peak gust of 58 mph recorded during that period.

High Wind, Coachella Valley

When: December 19, 3:00 AM PST to 6:00 AM PST
Where: Coachella Valley forecast zone
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 33.744, -115.994 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High winds occurred at the Sky Valley mesonet between 0300-0400 PST on the 19th with a peak gust of 63 mph recorded during that period.|High winds occurred at the Whitewater RAWS mesonet between 0350-0450 PST on the 19th with a peak gust of 60 mph recorded during that period.

Flood, Orange

When: December 19, 12:30 PM PST to 1:30 PM PST
Where: Orange County, 2 mi SE of Placentia to 0.75 mi NE of Yorba Linda
Cause: Heavy Rain
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 33.859, -117.805

Miraloma urban street flooding and standing water up to 6 inches deep between Fee Ana Street and Lakeview Avenue.

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2013 Every state in 2013 This day in weather history Warnings in California, December 2013

Sources

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: 489644, 489643, 489645.