An upper level high set up over the Four Corners region, allowing moisture to move into Southern California. Showers set up over the coast and valleys on July 22nd, and inland thunderstorms developed in the afternoon.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 upper level high set up over the Four Corners region, allowing moisture to move into Southern California. Showers set up over the coast and valleys on July 22nd, and inland thunderstorms developed in the afternoon. On July 23rd, a severe thunderstorm set up over the Coachella Valley and brought 70 mph winds to Mecca. This resulted in over 8 million dollars in damages to power lines throughout the city. On July 24th, storms prompted flash flood warnings over the Riverside and San Diego County mountains. On July 25th, strong thunderstorms over Julian and Borrego Springs brought gusty winds, small hail and heavy rain.
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 Jul 22, 12:30 PM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service San Diego CA 130 PM PDT Mon Jul 22 2019 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure aloft will expand over the Southwest early this week, bringing warm days and less extensive night and morning coastal low clouds. Increasing moisture from the southeast will mean more high cloudiness and an increasing chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly in the afternoons and early evenings and mainly over the mountains and deserts. The best chances of strong thunderstorms with locally heavy rain is Tuesday through Thursday. Dry weather will likely return by next weekend. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES... Some thunderstorms had formed over the region as of early afternoon as the decrease in mid-high clouds have allowed for better surface heating. A few lightning strikes in quick-moving weak convective cells occurred earlier, including a couple near Palm Springs a little before 10 AM. Scattered thunderstorms will occur mainly over the mountains this afternoon, but given the southeast flow, a few cells could drift into the valleys. Durations will generally be short as, evidenced by the northern Baja convection, the thunderstorms modify the environment by the cooling. HRRR and HREF show relatively limited amounts of precip, so total amounts should generally be under 1/2 inch this afternoon. The upper high is now over the 4 Corners and will stay in that area through about Thursday and bring us moist southeast flow aloft. Winds in the mid levels will decrease by about half, which will help the taller pulse-type thunderstorms to better form, though near saturation at times in the 500-300 MB layers may produce enough clouds at times to inhibit the convection. Some of the higher level moisture will be dependent on convection upstream, such as over Sonora, the day before. Where thunderstorms form, there could be brief heavy rain, with a possibility of isolated flash flooding, though HREF solutions show a very low chance of greater than one inch of precipitation anywhere Tuesday, at least for now. Thunderstorms will mostly be over the mountains and deserts, but some convergence along the Elsinore Convergence Zone in the Inland Empire could produce a few thunderstorms there Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon, especially with surface temperatures around 100 degrees providing some instability. The moisture decreases some Thursday, though the height level of the moisture, more around 700 MB, less above, may be more favorable for thunderstorms partly due to fewer high clouds. GEFS is consistent with its ensemble solutions with the placement of the upper high over the 4 Corners through Friday, then the solutions gradually divergence over the weekend with more than half the solutions having the upper high shift south which would place us under drier southwest flow, mostly due to troughing in the northern part of the West, but other solutions only have a slight shift southwest, which could maintain isolated thunderstorms. For now, will lean towards the drier solution but keep our eyes open. Temperatures will be a little above normal this week, except near or just slightly below normal in the deserts due to the moisture, though the humidity will make it feel warmer there. With the drying late in the week, temperatures in the deserts could rebound above 110 degrees again. && .AVIATION... 221945Z...Coast/Valleys...FEW-SCT low clouds with bases around 1000 ft MSL and tops to 1600 ft MSL this afternoon. Low clouds will be less in coverage tonight, but could impact KSAN, KCRQ and KSNA with cigs 800-1000 ft MSL at times between 08Z and 16Z Tuesday. Mountains/Deserts...SCT-BKN clouds AOA 10000 ft MSL early this afternoon. FEW-SCT TSRA over the mountains this afternoon/evening. Lightning VCNTY KPSP, KTRM, KSBD and KONT is possible but low probability. && .MARINE... No hazardous marine weather expected through Friday. && .SKYWARN... There is a small chance that Skywarn activation will be needed later today. Skywarn could be activated any afternoon and early evening through Friday due to thunderstorm activity. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CA...NONE. PZ...NONE. && PUBLIC...Maxwell AVIATION/MARINE...PG
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service San Diego CA
125 PM PDT Mon Jul 22 2019
CAZ058-222130-
San Diego County Mountains-
125 PM PDT Mon Jul 22 2019
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY
MOUNTAINS...
At 125 PM PDT, a strong thunderstorm was located near Warner Springs,
or 14 miles south of Anza, moving northwest at 5 mph.
Winds in excess of 35 mph are possible with this storm.
Locations impacted include...
Warner Springs, Hwy 79 Between Santa Ysabel And Warner Springs and
Los Coyotes Indian Reservation.
Torrential rainfall is also occurring with this storm, and may cause
localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.
LAT...LON 3327 11665 3340 11670 3342 11668 3342 11657
3340 11653 3328 11657
TIME...MOT...LOC 2025Z 143DEG 6KT 3336 11662
MorelandSpecial Weather Statement
National Weather Service San Diego CA
157 PM PDT Mon Jul 22 2019
CAZ056-222200-
Riverside County Mountains-
157 PM PDT Mon Jul 22 2019
...THUNDERSTORMS IMPACTING THE MOUNTAINS OF RIVERSIDE COUNTY...
At 155 PM PDT, a strong thunderstorm was located 7 miles northeast
of Hwy 79 Between Oak Grove And Aguanga, or 7 miles south of Anza.
Another thunderstorm was located just east of Idyllwild.
Winds in excess of 35 mph are possible with these storms. In
addition, rainfall amounts of one-half inch per hour are possible
along with frequent lightning.
Locations impacted include...
Idyllwild-Pine Cove, Anza, Mt San Jacinto State Park, Hwy 243 Between
Banning And Idyllwild, Hwy 74 Between Mountain Center And Anza,
Mountain Center, Cahuilla Indian Reservation and Lake Hemet.
Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm.
Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe
shelter inside a building or vehicle.
LAT...LON 3343 11663 3343 11676 3359 11673 3380 11675
3380 11662 3358 11663
TIME...MOT...LOC 2055Z 143DEG 6KT 3345 11670
MorelandPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
305 PM PDT MON JUL 22 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0250 PM TSTM WND GST 5 WSW WARNER SPRINGS 33.25N 116.70W
07/22/2019 M40 MPH SAN DIEGO CA MESONET
A WIND GUST OF 40 MPH WAS RECORDED BY THE
WARNER SPRINGS MESONET.
&&
CBThe Santa Ana Mts radar (KSOX), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:59 UTC.
2 flood, 1 heavy rain, 1 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 debris flow, 1 high wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Spotter reported flooding in their backyard from heavy rain.
Campo COOP observer reported 6 inches of standing water in backyard and runoff with mud/debris.
Upper Bear Creek gage reported 2.4 inches of rainfall in 3 hours.
Spotter reported penny sized hail.
Estimated 8 million in damage reported from thunderstorms microburst. Up to 20 utility poles downed, snapped or damaged in Imperial Irrigation District. Thunderstorms collapsed on desert floor. Strong winds also brought down a large tree onto a vehicle, trapping a man inside.
CalTrans reported rocks and mud in the road due to heavy rain.
Mount Laguna mesonet recorded a peak wind gust of 53 knots.
CalTrans reported that roadway S2 was washed out near MM35 due to heavy rain and resultant flooding.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 2019
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: 847450, 847457, 847468, 847458, 848213, 847477, 847487, 847489.