An elevated northwest swell brought high surf to west facing beaches.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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.
An elevated northwest swell brought high surf to west facing beaches.
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 Jan 17, 4:03 AM PST, 4 hours 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
403 AM PST SUN JAN 17 2016
.SYNOPSIS...
DRY AND A LITTLE WARMER TODAY UNDER WEAK HIGH PRESSURE. A LITTLE
COOLER WITH MORE CLOUDS FOR MONDAY AND TUESDAY WITH LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEMS PASSING BY THE NORTH BRINGING SMALL CHANCES FOR LIGHT
PRECIPITATION MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND AND AGAIN AROUND
TUESDAY NIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING WARMING FOR WEDNESDAY AND
THURSDAY...THEN COOLING INTO NEXT WEEKEND WITH A CHANCE OF LIGHT
PRECIPITATION SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND AGAIN SUNDAY
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
&&
.DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTIES...
HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING WARMING TODAY WITH NEAR AVERAGE HIGH
TEMPERATURES. FOR MONDAY AND TUESDAY...LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS MOVING
BY TO THE NORTH WILL BRING MORE CLOUDS AND COOLING TO SLIGHTLY
BELOW AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURES WITH SMALL CHANCES FOR LIGHT
PRECIPITATION MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND AGAIN AROUND
TUESDAY NIGHT.
FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT ALONG THE WEST
COAST WILL BRING DRY WEATHER WITH WARMING TO AROUND 5 DEGREES
ABOVE AVERAGE FOR THURSDAY.
THEN COOLING TO A LITTLE BELOW AVERAGE INTO NEXT WEEKEND WITH LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEMS MOVING INLAND TO THE NORTH BRINGING SMALL CHANCES
FOR MAINLY LIGHT PRECIPITATION AROUND SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND
EVENING AND SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
&&
.AVIATION...
171100Z...COAST/VALLEYS... SCT HIGH CLOUDS OBSTRUCTING LOW CIG
DEVELOPMENT EARLY THIS MORNING ALONG WITH LIGHT OFFSHORE FLOW AT THE
COAST. HIGH CLOUDS BEGINNING TO MOVE OUT...AND AFTER 13Z...STILL A
CHANCE OF SEEING SCT TO BKN LOW CLOUDS WITH BASES AS LOW AS 500 TO
800 FT MSL THROUGH ABOUT 17Z THIS MORNING...ALTHOUGH CONFIDENCE IN
OCCURRENCE IS LOW AT THIS POINT. VSBY RESTRICTIONS ALONG THE COAST
INCLUDING THE COASTAL TAF SITES...AS LOW AS 2 TO 3 SM THROUGH ABOUT
17Z THIS MORNING. LIGHT WINDS AND SCT CLOUDS AOA 20000 FT MSL WILL
THEN PREVAIL SUNDAY AFTERNOON. LOW CLOUDS MAY RETURN TO THE COAST
BETWEEN 04Z AND 07Z MONDAY.
MTNS/DESERTS...SCT HIGH CLOUDS AOA 20000 FT MSL AND UNRESTRICTED VIS
WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY.
&&
.MARINE...
300 AM...
A LARGE LONG PERIOD WEST-NORTHWEST SWELL WILL MOVE INTO THE SOCAL
BIGHT TODAY. 9 TO 13 FEET SEAS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH TUESDAY...WITH
THE HIGHEST SEAS OCCURRING SOUTH OF A LINE FROM SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND
TO LA JOLLA TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY. SEAS WILL FALL BELOW 10 FT
TUESDAY EVENING.
&&
.BEACHES...
300 AM...
A WEST-NORTHWEST SWELL WILL BRING A PERIOD OF VERY HIGH SURF TODAY
THROUGH TUESDAY. THE SURF WILL BE HIGHEST SOUTH OF CARLSBAD WHERE
SURF OF 8-12 FT AND SETS TO 15 FT WILL BE POSSIBLE. SURF OF 7-10 FT
WITH SETS TO 12 FT WILL BE POSSIBLE NORTH OF NEWPORT BEACH. THE
GREATEST PERIOD OF CONCERN FOR IMPACTS ALONG THE COAST IS FROM THIS
EVENING THROUGH MONDAY EVENING. SURF WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH TUESDAY
EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY.
A HIGH SURF WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR SAN DIEGO COUNTY...WITH ORANGE
COUNTY UNDER A HIGH SURF ADVISORY. BOTH ARE IN PLACE THROUGH TUESDAY
EVENING. PLEASE REFER TO THESE PRODUCTS FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS.
&&
.SKYWARN...
SKYWARN ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED. HOWEVER WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE
ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS.
&&
.SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CA...HIGH SURF ADVISORY UNTIL 5 PM PST TUESDAY FOR ORANGE COUNTY
COASTAL AREAS.
HIGH SURF WARNING UNTIL 5 PM PST TUESDAY FOR SAN DIEGO COUNTY
COASTAL AREAS.
PZ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS UNTIL 5 PM PST TUESDAY
FOR COASTAL WATERS FROM SAN MATEO POINT TO THE MEXICAN
BORDER AND OUT TO 30 NM-WATERS FROM SAN MATEO POINT TO THE
MEXICAN BORDER EXTENDING 30 TO 60 NM OUT INCLUDING SAN
CLEMENTE ISLAND.
&&
PUBLIC...17
AVIATION/MARINE/BEACHES...JMBThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.
Surf of 8 to 12 ft reported at Imperial Beach.
Surf of 6 to 10 ft reported at at Ocean Beach.
Surf of 6 to 10 ft reported at Blacks Beach.
San Clemente Beach Lifeguards reported 6 to 8 ft surf.
Solana Beach Lifeguards reported 6 to 8 ft surf.
Mission Beach Lifeguards reported 8 ft surf.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 2016
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: 616590, 616591, 616592, 616586, 616587, 616588.