An elevated northwest swell brought a low end high surf event to favored beaches from 5th to the 8th of December. The reported impacts were minimal.
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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 SGX wrote it up.
An elevated northwest swell brought a low end high surf event to favored beaches from 5th to the 8th of December. The reported impacts were minimal.
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 5, 2:45 AM PST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
245 AM PST SAT DEC 5 2015
.SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT AND WEAK OFFSHORE FLOW WILL BRING
WARM...DRY WEATHER THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. A LOW PRESSURE
TROUGH WILL BRING COOLING LATE NEXT WEEK ALONG WITH A CHANCE OF
SHOWERS.
&&
.DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTIES...
SKIES WERE MOSTLY CLEAR THIS MORNING WITH A FEW POCKETS OF DENSE FOG
IN THE COLDER VALLEYS AND DRAINAGES. OFFSHORE FLOW HAS
DEVELOPED...BUT MOST SITES ARE CURRENTLY REPORTING GUSTS OF 20 MPH
OR LESS. NORTHEAST TO EAST WINDS WILL STRENGTHEN THROUGH THE MORNING
WITH GUSTS PEAKING AROUND 30-35 MPH BELOW THE SAN GORGONIO PASS AND
NEAR THE FOOTHILLS OF THE CUYAMACA MOUNTAINS. WINDS WILL GRADUALLY
WEAKEN THROUGH THE AFTERNOON WITH LIGHT OFFSHORE FLOW CONTINUING
THROUGH MIDWEEK. A SHORT-WAVE RIDGE PASSING OVER THE REGION THIS
WEEKEND COMBINED WITH THE OFFSHORE FLOW WILL HELP BRING
WARMING...ESPECIALLY WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS WHERE TEMPS WILL BE 5 TO
10 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. A WEAK SHORT WAVE TROUGH PASSES THROUGH
SUNDAY NIGHT BEFORE ANOTHER LARGER RIDGE BUILDS IN FROM THE
SOUTHWEST MONDAY THROUGH WED FOR MORE WARMING.
A LARGE TROUGH DIGS MOVES INTO THE PAC NW LATE THU AND DIGS THROUGH
THE INTERIOR SW ON FRIDAY. THERE ARE STILL SOME TIMING ISSUES AS THE
GFS IS A BIT FASTER WITH BRINGING THIS TROUGH IN. AS WE HAVE SEEN
WITH THE PAST FEW SYSTEMS...THE TROUGH TAKES SOMEWHAT OF AN INLAND
TRACK AND LIMITS THE MOISTURE IN SO CAL. BASED ON THE GFS TIMING WE
COULD SEE A FEW LIGHT SHOWERS AS EARLY AS THU EVENING...WITH THE
BEST CHANCES THU NIGHT INTO FRI MORNING. THE MAIN IMPACT WITH THIS
SYSTEM WILL BE STRONG GUSTY WEST WINDS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS.
OTHERWISE EXPECT GRADUAL COOLING AND INCREASED CLOUDINESS LATE IN
THE WEEK.
&&
.AVIATION...
051000Z...FEW PATCHES OF RADIATION FG IN THE VALLEYS THIS MORNING.
LLWS OF 25 KT NE WINDS AROUND 2000 FT AGL AT KSNA AND KONT EARLY
THIS MORNING. NORTHEASTERLY WIND GUSTS TO 40 KT COULD CREATE MOD-STG
UDDFS/LLWS OVER AND WEST OF THE MTNS EARLY THIS MORNING.
OTHERWISE...FEW/SCT HIGH CLOUDS THROUGH SUN MORNING.
&&
.MARINE...
230 AM...COMBINED SEAS OF 8-10 FEET...WITH STEEP WAVES...WILL
CONTINUE IN THE OUTER WATERS THROUGH THIS MORNING. A SMALL CRAFT
ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH 10 AM THIS MORNING FOR THE OUTER
WATERS. SEAS WILL TEMPORARILY LOWER...THEN BUILD TO 8 TO 10 FEET
AGAIN LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING DUE TO ANOTHER
LARGE NORTHWEST SWELL MOVING IN.
&&
.BEACHES...
230 AM...A LARGE LONG PERIOD NORTHWEST SWELL WILL GENERATE 5 TO 7
FOOT SURF...WITH ISOLATED SETS TO 9 FEET...TODAY ALONG EXPOSED WEST-
FACING BEACHES OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY AND NORTHERN ORANGE COUNTY. THE
LARGE SURF WILL CREATE STRONG RIP CURRENTS AND POSSIBLE MINOR BEACH
EROSION. A HIGH SURF ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE ORANGE AND
SAN DIEGO COUNTY BEACHES THROUGH 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON. A POTENTIALLY
LARGER...LONGER PERIOD NORTHWEST SWELL WILL LIKELY CREATE ANOTHER
ROUND OF HIGH SURF MONDAY INTO TUESDAY...WITH YET ANOTHER LARGE LONG-
PERIOD NORTHWEST SWELL POSSIBLE NEXT FRIDAY.
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...
OFFSHORE FLOW WILL STRENGTHEN THIS MORNING WITH LOCALLY GUSTY
NORTHEAST TO EAST WINDS EXPECTED BELOW THE CAJON AND SAN GORGONIO
PASSES...THROUGH THE SANTA ANA MTN CANYONS...AND ALONG THE COASTAL
FOOTHILLS. CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE FOR A FEW
HOURS THIS AFTERNOON WITH ISOLATED WIND GUSTS TO AROUND 35 MPH AND
RELATIVE HUMIDITY IN THE LOW TEENS. WINDS WILL WEAKEN THROUGH THE
AFTERNOON WITH LIGHTER OFFSHORE FLOW CONTINUING INTO SUNDAY.
OVERNIGHT HUMIDITY RECOVERY WILL BE MODERATE TO POOR IN THE WIND
PRONE AREAS. WINDS WILL DIMINISH SUNDAY...THOUGH DAYTIME HUMIDITY
WILL REMAIN IN THE TEENS.
&&
.SKYWARN... SKYWARN ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED. HOWEVER WEATHER
SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS.
&&
.SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CA...HIGH SURF ADVISORY THROUGH 4 PM PST SATURDAY FOR ORANGE
COUNTY COASTAL AREAS-SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS.
PZ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY THROUGH 10 AM PST SATURDAY FOR
WATERS FROM SAN MATEO POINT TO THE MEXICAN BORDER
EXTENDING 30 TO 60 NM OUT INCLUDING SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND.
&&
PUBLIC/FIRE WEATHER...SS
AVIATION/MARINE/BEACHES...JJTThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.
Occasional sets of 7 to 8 ft were reported at Blacks Beach.
The Mission Beach lifeguards reported 7 to 10 ft surf.
The Huntington Beach lifeguards reported 7 to 10 ft surf.
Occasional sets of 7 to 8 ft were reported at Sunset Cliffs Beach.
The Mission Beach lifeguards reported 7 to 8 ft surf.
The Huntington Beach lifeguards reported 7 to 8 ft surf.
High surf forced the precautionary closure of the Ocean Beach Pier.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 2015
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: 608570, 608566, 608569, 608571, 608567, 608568, 608572.