A long period southwest swell brought surf of 4-6 feet with sets to 8 feet in Orange County. San Diego County reported surf of 2-4 feet.
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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.
A long period southwest swell brought surf of 4-6 feet with sets to 8 feet in Orange County. San Diego County reported surf of 2-4 feet.
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 May 13, 9:00 AM PST, 0 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service San Diego CA 1000 AM PDT Mon May 13 2019 .SYNOPSIS... Onshore flow will prevail for the next week keeping coastal areas cooler with night and morning coastal low clouds and fog extending well inland into the valleys. There is a slight chance of a thunderstorm over the mountains this afternoon, but dry weather will prevail Tuesday. Strengthening onshore flow will spread cooling inland on Wednesday with a trough of low pressure Thursday bringing cooling, stronger and gusty west winds in the mountains and deserts, and rain. Some drying and a little warmer weather will occur Friday and Saturday, then another low pressure system arriving around Sunday will bring stronger and gusty west winds in the mountains and deserts and another chance of rain. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES... Stratus was widespread from the mountain foothills west through the coastal waters this morning with drizzle in a few locations. Some clearing was occuring over the foothills at mid-morning, but this will be a slow day for clearing near the coast where some areas will likely stay cloudy this afternoon. Models indicate that CAPEs of 400- 700 J/kg are still expected in the mountains this afternoon along with some moisture in the 700-500 MB layer, and most model output including local WRF and the HREF indicate at least some spotty precipitation, and with some cumulus already forming in the San Bernardino and Riverside County mountains, a slight chance of thunderstorms have been reintroduced in mainly the SBD/RIV mountains. Strong and fairly deep marine inversion Tuesday and Wednesday will prevail with stratus extending throughout the valleys each night with only partial clearing at the coast each day. Mid-level moisture and instability should finally disappear in the mountains by Tuesday, so thunderstorm chances will be nil then. The ridge over the region should shift to the east by Wednesday as a trough of low pressure, quite deep for May, will approach from the west and bring cooling mainly to inland areas Wed/Thu along with stronger west winds in the mountains/deserts. The should be some precipitation Thursday as a front moves through, with amounts of 1/4 to 1/2 inch possible. After a weak transitory ridge brings some warming Fri/Sat except where the marine layer is strongest near the coast, another trough could bring more precipitation, most likely light, early next week. && .AVIATION...1500Z...Coasts/Valleys...Low clouds with bases 1200-1700 FT MSL will affect coastal and valley TAF sites through 20Z with clearing expected thereafter. Some patchy BKN-OVC low clouds may linger near the beaches. Low clouds will redevelop in the evening, with cigs beginning near 04Z and extending around 10-15 mi inland. Bases will be slightly lower, between 800-1400 FT MSL. Coverage will be more limited over the Inland Empire, with KONT/KSBD likely only seeing a few hours of cigs, most likely between 12-15Z. Mountains/Deserts...SCT clouds around 9000 feet MSL, mainly over the mountains between 19-01Z, locally BKN. There is a slight chance of TSRA over higher terrain 19-01Z. Otherwise, clear with unrestricted vis. && .MARINE... No hazardous marine weather expected through Friday. && .SKYWARN... Skywarn activation is not requested. However weather spotters are encouraged to report significant weather conditions. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CA...NONE. PZ...NONE. && PUBLIC...Maxwell AVIATION/MARINE...Rodriguez
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.
Huntington Beach lifeguards reported 7-8 foot surf at 10am and 1pm on May 13th. Other Orange County beaches reported surf of 4-6 feet.
Huntington Beach and Newport Beach lifeguards reported 7-8 foot surf at 10am and 1pm on May 14th. Other Orange County beaches reported surf of 4-6 feet.
Huntington Beach reported 8 foot surf at 10am and 1pm on May 15th. Other Orange County beaches reported surf of 4-7 feet.
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, May 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: 830650, 830651, 830652.