A few strong thunderstorms occurred over the San Bernardino and Riverside County mountains overnight on the 21st, with several lightning strikes which started smoldering wildfires. On the 21st, with the onset of offshore winds, two areas ignited into the Strawberry Fire a few miles southwest of Lake Arrowhead, and the North Face Fire in the foothills north of Mount San Jacinto.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 SGX wrote it up.
A few strong thunderstorms occurred over the San Bernardino and Riverside County mountains overnight on the 21st, with several lightning strikes which started smoldering wildfires. On the 21st, with the onset of offshore winds, two areas ignited into the Strawberry Fire a few miles southwest of Lake Arrowhead, and the North Face Fire in the foothills north of Mount San Jacinto. These fires were quickly extinguished by firefighters, burning no more than a few acres.
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 Nov 21, 2:45 AM PST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 245 AM PST FRI NOV 21 2014 .SYNOPSIS... A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE THROUGH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THIS MORNING...BRINGING SCATTERED SHOWERS ALONG AND WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS...AND SOME LOCALLY GUSTY WINDS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. PARTLY CLOUDY AND COOL WEATHER WILL FOLLOW THROUGH THE WEEKEND. FAIR AND WARMER NEXT WEEK AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS ALOFT AND DRY OFFSHORE FLOW DEVELOPS. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES... SHOWERS INCREASED IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY SINCE MIDNIGHT. SOME THUNDERSTORMS POPPED UP IN THE INLAND EMPIRE AND SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS AND A COUPLE REPORTS OF PEA-SIZE HAIL CAME FROM THE NORTHERN INLAND EMPIRE. A POCKET OF COLD AIR ALOFT OVERLAPPED WITH MAXIMUM VORTICITY (SPINNING MOTION) OVER THAT SUBREGION TO PRODUCE THE TSTORMS. SPOTS THAT GET UNDER THE TSTORMS COULD RECEIVE TWO TENTHS IN IN AN HOUR. TOP STORM TOTALS ARE UP TO 0.25 INCH ALONG THE SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAIN FRONT RANGE. BUT OUTSIDE OF THOSE ISOLATED HEAVY STORMS...SCATTERED SHOWERS HAVE ONLY PRODUCED A FEW HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH WHERE THEY HAVE HIT RAIN GAUGES...AND MANY PLACES HAVE RECEIVED NOTHING MEASURABLE. THE SHOWERS AND CLOUDS UPSTREAM ARE CLEARING FAST IN LA COUNTY SO WE EXPECT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DIMINISH THIS MORNING FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST. A FEW SHOWERS COULD LINGER IN SOUTHERN SAN DIEGO COUNTY THROUGH MIDDAY. TODAY WILL BE MOSTLY TO PARTLY CLOUDY AND COOL. HIGH PRESSURE TRIES TO REBUILD LATE TODAY AND SATURDAY...BUT A STRONG NORTHWEST JET STREAM ACROSS THE WEST WILL KEEP THINGS PARTLY CLOUDY AND FRESH THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. AREAS OF STRONG BREEZES WILL DEVELOP SATURDAY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS...PARTICULARLY IN THE HIGH DESERT. THE FLOW TURNS OFFSHORE ON SUNDAY AND AREAS OF STRONG WINDS DEVELOP BELOW CAJON PASS AND INTO THE SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS. THIS WILL BRING VERY DRY AIR INTO THE REGION FLUSHING OUT CLOUDS. THESE OFFSHORE WINDS DO NOT APPEAR VERY STRONG NOR WIDESPREAD...BUT PLACES LIKE FREMONT CANYON COULD GUST TO 45 MPH OR SO. OFFSHORE WINDS DECREASE INCREMENTALLY EACH DAY THEREAFTER...BUT REMAIN DRY WITH WEAK OFFSHORE FLOW ENSURING CLEAR SKIES. DAYTIME TEMPS WILL RISE INTO THE 80S FOR MUCH OF THE COASTAL BASIN BY WEDNESDAY...WHICH LOOKS LIKE THE WARMEST DAY. THANKSGIVING LOOKS PICTURE PERFECT WITH 70S AND A FEW 80S. && .AVIATION... 211025Z...COASTS/VALLEYS/MTNS...SCATTERED LIGHT-MOD SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH SMALL HAIL THROUGH ABOUT 12-15Z...TAPERING OFF BY LATE MORNING. VIS MAY BE REDUCED TO 2-4 SM IN HEAVIER SHOWERS. OTHERWISE MULTIPLE CLOUD LAYERS BETWEEN 1500-6000 FT MSL...LOCALLY HIGHER...WITH AREAS OF TERRAIN OBSCURED MAINLY ABOVE 2500 FT MSL. BKN/OVC CLOUD LAYERS BECOMING SCT TO LOCALLY BKN 17-19Z WITH BASES GENERALLY AOA 3500 FT MSL. GRADUAL CLEARING AFTER 00Z. DESERTS...ISOLATED LIGHT SHOWERS THROUGH ABOUT 16Z...WITH THE BEST CHANCES OVER THE HIGH DESERT. AREAS OF SFC WINDS WEST 15-25 KT WITH GUSTS 35-40 KT WILL THROUGH 18Z ON THE DESERT SLOPES/FOOTHILLS. OTHERWISE SCT CLOUDS AOA 20000 FT MSL AND UNRESTRICTED VIS. && .MARINE... 240 AM...SHOWERS AND POSSIBLY A THUNDERSTORM OR TWO OVER THE COASTAL WATERS THROUGH MID-MORNING. BREEZY WEST-NORTHWEST WINDS AROUND 20-25 KNOTS WILL CONTINUE OVER THE OUTER COASTAL WATERS BEHIND A COLD FRONT MOVING ACROSS THE AREA. SIMILAR WINDS ARE POSSIBLE SATURDAY EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING AS ANOTHER TROUGH MOVES ACROSS THE REGION. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CONTINUES THROUGH 4 PM FOR THE OUTER WATERS. NO HAZARDOUS MARINE WEATHER IS EXPECTED SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH TUESDAY. && .SKYWARN... SKYWARN ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED. HOWEVER WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CA...NONE PZ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS UNTIL 4 PM PST TODAY FOR THE WATERS FROM SAN MATEO POINT TO THE MEXICAN BORDER EXTENDING 30 TO 60 NM OUT INCLUDING SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND. && PUBLIC...MM AVIATION/MARINE...SS
The Santa Ana Mts radar (KSOX), 87 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:58 UTC.
2 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning from the 17th eventually ignited the North Face Fire on the 21st, with the aid of offshore winds.
Lightning on the 17th eventually ignited the Strawberry Fire just southwest of Lake Arrowhead, with the aid of offshore winds.
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, November 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: 548658, 548659.