High Wind in California, October 26, 2020

Name: High Wind in California, October 26, 2020
Start: 2020-10-26T02:30
End: 2020-10-26T11:00
Location: California

October 26, 2020 · NWS LOX · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

Strong and gusty Santa Ana winds buffeted sections of Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Northeasterly wind gusts ranged between 70 and 95 MPH across the mountains and between 60 and 75 mph across the valleys.

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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 LOX wrote it up.

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 Los Angeles, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 25, 3:17 PM PST, 11 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 25, 3:17 PM PST, 11 hours 13 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Los Angeles County Mountains Excluding the Santa Monica Range

When: October 26, 2:30 AM PST to 10:30 AM PST
Where: Los Angeles County Mountains Excluding the Santa Monica Range forecast zone
Measured: 83 kt (96 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Santa Ana winds impacted the mountains of Los Angeles county. Some peak north to northeast wind gusts from the local observation network include: Magic Mountain Truck Trail (gust 96 MPH), Sierra Pelona (gust 63 MPH), Warm Springs RAWS (gust 62 MPH), Chilao RAWS (gust 61 MPH) and Camp Nine (gust 62 MPH).

High Wind, Ventura County Mountains

When: October 26, 2:30 AM PST to 10:30 AM PST
Where: Ventura County Mountains forecast zone
Measured: 65 kt (75 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Santa Ana winds impacted the mountains of Ventura county. The local observation network reported northeasterly wind gusts up to 75 MPH.

High Wind, Ventura County Coastal Valleys

When: October 26, 2:47 AM PST to 9:49 AM PST
Where: Ventura County Coastal Valleys forecast zone
Measured: 59 kt (68 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Santa Ana winds impacted the coastal valleys of Ventura county. Some peak northeasterly wind gusts from the local observation network include: Boney Mountain (gust 58 MPH), Miller Ranch (gust 65 MPH), Deer Creek Canyon (gust 68 MPH) and Simi Valley (gust 62 MPH).

High Wind, Santa Clarita Valley

When: October 26, 2:50 AM PST to 7:58 AM PST
Where: Santa Clarita Valley forecast zone
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 34.198, -118.261 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Santa Ana winds impacted the Santa Clarita Valley in Los Angeles county. Some peak north to northeast wind gusts from the local observation network include: Solemint Canyon (gust 61 MPH) and Newhall Pass RAWS (gust 58 MPH).

High Wind, Los Angeles County San Fernando Valley

When: October 26, 8:00 AM PST to 11:00 AM PST
Where: Los Angeles County San Fernando Valley forecast zone
Measured: 65 kt (75 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Santa Ana winds impacted the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles county. Some peak north to northeast wind gusts from the local observation network include: Browns Canyon (gust 75 mph) and Porter Ranch RAWS (gust 62 MPH).

High Wind, Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area

When: October 26, 8:10 AM PST to 10:10 AM PST
Where: Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area forecast zone
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Santa Ana winds impacted the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles county. Some peak north to northeast wind gusts from the local observation network include: Saddle Peak (gust 68 MPH), Malibu Hills RAWS (gust 66 MPH) and Latigo Canyon Road (gust 59 MPH).

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

Every storm in California in 2020 Every state in 2020 This day in weather history Warnings in California, October 2020

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: 931500, 931501, 931493, 931496, 931498, 931495.