Several pushes of southerly swell produced periods of high surf along the Orange County beaches.
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.
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.
Several pushes of southerly swell produced periods of high surf along the Orange County 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 Sep 21, 8:10 AM PST, 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
National Weather Service San Diego CA
910 AM PDT WED SEP 21 2016
.SYNOPSIS...
Light showers will continue to taper off this morning over
portions of San Diego and Riverside Counties. A few showers and
thunderstorms are expected in the mountains and parts of the
desert this afternoon. A low pressure trough will bring breezy and
cooler weather Thursday. High pressure and offshore flow will
build this weekend, bringing clear skies, breezy conditions, and
dry warmer weather through early next week.
&&
.DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTIES...
Deep layer moisture remains in place this morning as seen on the
12Z NKX sounding, with a saturated layer up to around 600 mb and
2.13 inches of PW. As a result, a band of light showers continues
draped across San Diego and Riverside Counties this morning,
drifting slowly northeast. This area of showers will eventually
diminish and shift out of the area as the afternoon approaches,
with minimal additional rainfall totals. The deep, subtropical
moisture will gradually thin out as well today, though still
leaving behind some cloud cover and warm, muggy conditions this
afternoon. As the clouds clear over the mountains and deserts
today, enough sunshine and heating should be present to give a
chance for a few showers and thunderstorms. The best chance for
this activity will be where clouds clear the most.
For tonight and Thursday...the moisture switch is flipped to the
off position as a strong trough of low pressure deepens along the
West Coast, pushing out the remaining subtropical moisture as it
swings through southern California. Westerly winds will increase
Thursday with parts of the mountains and deserts experiencing gusts
of 40 to 50 mph in the late afternoon and evening.
For Thursday night and Friday morning, the flow at the middle and
upper levels will turn offshore and produce localized winds
through and below the Cajon Pass into the western Inland Empire.
High pressure aloft will nudge into the West Coast Friday and
Saturday. The northerly flow along with high surface pressure
over the western interior will combine to produce moderate offshore
winds and a decent warming and drying trend. The winds look
strongest on Sunday and Monday. Sunday through Tuesday look to be
quite warm, with some spots hitting 100+ degrees.
&&
.AVIATION...
211600Z...Extensive BKN-OVC030-050 cloud shield from the remnants of
Tropical Cyclone Paine blanketing SoCal this morning. Cloud bases
lower in the rain band stretching from PSP southwestward to CRQ
where CIGS are 700-1500 feet and vis is 2-4SM. Rain band dissipating
through 21Z.
Isolated SHRA/TSRA possible this afternoon and evening over the
mountains and deserts.
&&
.MARINE...
An upper-level trough moving across the region will create gusty
west to northwest winds around 20 kt and steep 7-8 foot seas over
the outer coastal waters Thursday afternoon and evening. These
conditions would be hazardous to small craft, and a small craft
advisory may be needed.
&&
.BEACHES...
Swells from post-tropical cyclone Paine of 3-5 ft/12 sec will
produce elevated surf and strong rip currents at favored beaches
today with strong longshore currents. A long-period southern
hemisphere swell from 200 degrees will arrive Thursday morning, peak
late Thursday/Friday at 3 feet/18-19 seconds, and then gradually
lower Saturday through Sunday. This will create elevated surf along
south and southwest facing beaches along with strong rip currents.
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...
A deep trough of low pressure moving inland across CA Thursday
will bring gusty westerly winds and drying. Recent rains over the
San Diego and San Jacinto mountains will mitigate the wildfire
threat in those areas, but with little rain in the San Bernardino
County mountains and high deserts, critical fire weather
conditions are likely to develop. Therefore, a Fire Weather Watch
remains in effect for Thursday in those areas.
On Thursday night, the winds shift northeast starting a period of
prolonged Santa Ana conditions that will continue through at least
Monday. There is considerable uncertainty regarding the exact
weather pattern at this point, but a period of moderate, to
locally strong northeast winds are possible Sun/Mon, with low
humidity. Recent rainfall over San Diego and Riverside Counties
will mitigate the fire weather concerns through around Friday, but
this offshore event will likely dry the fuels back to critical
levels early next week, setting the stage for critical fire
weather conditions again.
&&
.SKYWARN...
Skywarn activation is not requested. However weather spotters are encouraged
to report significant weather conditions.
&&
.SGX Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
CA...Fire Weather Watch from Thursday afternoon through Thursday
evening for San Bernardino County Mountains-Including The
Mountain Top And Front Country Ranger Districts Of The San
Bernardino National Forest-Victor Valley-Apple Valley-
Lucerne Valley-Johnson Valley.
PZ...None.
&&
PUBLIC...TS
AVIATION/MARINE...MoedeThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.
Lifeguards in Huntington Beach and Newport Beach reported sets to 8 ft.
Lifeguards in Huntington Beach and Newport Beach reported surf heights to 8 ft.
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, September 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: 660112, 660113.