California, 2017

High Wind in California, October 20, 2017

October 20, 2017 · NWS VEF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Severe downslope winds affected the Owens Valley ahead of a cold front.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$35,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS VEF wrote it up.

Severe downslope winds affected the Owens Valley ahead of a cold front.

What forecasters said that day

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 Las Vegas, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 19, 7:32 PM PST, 6 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 19, 7:32 PM PST, 6 hours 10 minutes before
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Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Owens Valley

When
October 20, 1:42 AM PST to 8:50 AM PST
Where
Owens Valley forecast zone
Measured
67 kt (77 mph) measured gust
Property damage
$35,000
Reported by
Law Enforcement

The peak gust was measured 4 miles NW of Independence. Three big rigs were blown over on Highway 395.

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in California, October 2017

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 721188.