A cold and unstable air mass generated scattered thunderstorms across Los Angeles county. One thunderstorm generated heavy rain and flash flooding in the city of Torrance.
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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 LOX wrote it up.
A cold and unstable air mass generated scattered thunderstorms across Los Angeles county. One thunderstorm generated heavy rain and flash flooding in the city of Torrance.
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 Dec 16, 4:00 PM PST, 45 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA 400 PM PST TUE DEC 16 2014 ...UPDATED AVIATION DISCUSSION... .SYNOPSIS... ANOTHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY BRINGING RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN BELOW NORMAL DURING THE WEEK. DRY WEATHER EXPECTED AFTER THURSDAY WITH A WARMING TREND STARTING SUNDAY. && .SHORT TERM (TODAY-FRI)...MOIST AND SLIGHTLY UNSTABLE AIR MASS STILL GENERATING A FEW SHOWERS ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON, THOUGH NO LIGHTNING EXCEPT FOR A FEW STRIKES JUST WEST OF PALOS VERDES EARLIER TODAY. THE NEXT SYSTEM IS APPROACHING FROM THE WEST AND COULD RE-INTRODUCE SOME CONVECTION TO AREAS NORTH OF PT CONCEPTION LATER THIS EVENING OR OVERNIGHT. THE 18Z NAM HAS SCALED BACK ON THE INTENSITY OF THIS NEXT SYSTEM, MATCHING BASICALLY WHAT ALL THE OTHER MODELS WERE SHOWING AT 12Z WHICH WAS STILL A SLIGHTLY STRONGER SYSTEM THAN LAST NIGHT BUT NOT BY MUCH. THERE ARE STILL SOME REASONS TO SUPPORT THE HIGHER AMOUNTS THOUGH. SATELLITE ESTIMATED WINDS CONFIRM MODELS INITIALIZATION OF AROUND 120KT JET MAX DIVING DOWN THE BACK SIDE OF THE UPPER LOW CENTER ABEAM OF THE CA/OR BORDER. HOWEVER, MODELS WEAKEN THIS QUITE A BIT OVERNIGHT AND MAY BE PART OF THE REASON WHY QPF NUMBERS ARE A BIT LOWER THAN THEY WERE PREVIOUSLY. ALSO, PWAT VALUES NOT REALLY THAT IMPRESSIVE EITHER, GENERALLY .75-.90". SO CONFIDENCE NOT THAT HIGH ON AMOUNTS AND WILL TRIM BACK A BIT TO BE IN LINE WITH LATEST MODELS. RAINFALL RATES SHOULD REMAIN BELOW A QUARTER INCH PER HOUR WITH THE FRONT, THOUGH IF CONVECTION DOES DEVELOP THERE COULD BE SOME BRIEF HEAVIER DOWNPOURS. PROBABLY STILL NOT ENOUGH TO POSE A THREAT TO BURN AREAS BUT INTERESTS THERE SHOULD STILL KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THE STORM TONIGHT AND WED. SNOW LEVELS WILL BE AROUND 6000 FEET TONIGHT AND DOWN TO 5000-5500 WED. EVEN WITH THE LIGHTER PRECIP AMOUNTS THAT STILL PUTS US INTO THE LOWER END OF WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY CRITERIA FOR LA/VENTURA MTNS. NO IMPACTS ON THE GRAPEVINE EXPECTED THOUGH. PRETTY GOOD SUBSIDENCE BEHIND THE FRONT SHOULD LEAD TO RAPIDLY DIMINISHING PRECIP COVERAGE WITH MOST OF THE LINGERING AFTERNOON SHOWERS MAINLY OVER THE MTNS. DRY WEATHER AND A LITTLE WARMER MOST AREAS THU/FRI. A COUPLE OF DYING COLD FRONTS WILL BRING INCREASING CLOUDS TO THE CENTRAL COAST THU THRU FRI BUT LIKELY NO RAIN EXCEPT POSSIBLY THE NW TIP OF SLO COUNTY. .LONG TERM (SAT-TUE)...THE REMNANTS OF THE FRI FRONT WILL EXIT THE AREA SAT MORNING LEAVING CLEARING SKIES GOING INTO SUNDAY ALONG WITH WARMER TEMPS. WARMING TREND TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK AS A BIG HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE DEVELOPS ALONG WITH WEAK OFFSHORE FLOW. COULD HAVE HIGHS NEAR 80 BY TUE AND WED. && .AVIATION...16/2350Z. AT 2350Z AT KLAX...THERE WAS NO INVERSION. SOME LINGERING MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY WILL CONTINUE TO BRING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TO LOS ANGELES COUNTY THROUGH THIS EVENING. THE NEXT FRONT WILL BRING STEADY RAIN TO THE CENTRAL COAST THIS EVENING...SPREADING INTO VENTURA AND LOS ANGELES COUNTIES AFTER MIDNIGHT. MVFR CIGS WILL GENERALLY BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONT...ALONG WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF TSTMS. BRIEF IFR CONDITIONS POSSIBLE WITH FRONT. KLAX...ENE WND COMPONENT UP TO 9KTS WITH VCSH ASSOCIATED SURFACE LOW OFF THE COAST OF PALOS VERDES PENINSULA. SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE AREA THROUGH THIS EVENING WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. SHOWER ACTIVTY SHOULD BE ON THE DOWNWARD TREND AFTER 03Z...THEN PICK UP AGAIN AFTER 12Z. KBUR...SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE AREA THROUGH THIS EVENING WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. SHOWER ACTIVITY SHOULD BE ON THE DOWNWARD TREND AFTER 03Z...THEN PICK UP AGAIN AFTER 12Z. && .MARINE...16/900 AM. INSTEAD OF VACILLATING BETWEEN A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS AND ONE FOR SEAS...DECIDED TO SIMPLY PUT UP A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT WINDS AND SEAS WILL BE A FACTOR LATER TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING. ANOTHER SWELL MOVES INTO THE COASTAL WATERS ON SATURDAY. && .LOX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY (SEE LAXMWWLOX). HIGH SURF ADVISORY (SEE LAXCFWLOX). HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK (SEE LAXSRFLOX). MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT (SEE LAXMWSLOX). && PUBLIC...MW AVIATION/MARINE...GOMBERG/SWEET SYNOPSIS...JLD WWW.WEATHER.GOV/LOSANGELES
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA 600 AM PST TUE DEC 16 2014 CAZ034>041-044>046-051>054-059-087-088-547-548-161400- 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 DEC 16 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE... TODAY AND TONIGHT ONE STORM WILL LEAVE THE AREA THIS MORNING AND ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL IMPACT SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. ELEVATED SURF WILL BRING HIGH SURF AND A HIGH RISK FOR DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS. SNOW LEVELS WILL LOWER TO 5000 FEET LATE TONIGHT. * HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK......SEE FZUS56 KLOX - SRFLOX FOR DETAILS * * HIGH SURF ADVISORY.........SEE WHUS46 KLOX - CFWLOX FOR DETAILS * .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING WITH SNOW LEVELS NEAR 5000 FEET. ELEVATED SURF WILL BRING HIGH SURF AND A HIGH RISK FOR DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS THROUGH WEDNESDAY. * MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT...SEE FZUS76 KLOX - MWSLOX FOR DETAILS * * MARINE WEATHER MESSAGE.....SEE WHUS76 KLOX - MWWLOX FOR DETAILS * * HIGH SURF ADVISORY.........SEE WHUS46 KLOX - CFWLOX FOR DETAILS * .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. ASR
The Santa Ana Mts radar (KSOX), 66 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:46 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A strong thunderstorm over the city of Torrance produced intense rainfall and flash flooding. Streets were flooded and numerous cars were stranded.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 2014
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: 553283.