Strong and gusty northerly winds impacted the mountains of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties. Peak wind gusts, up to 76 MPH, were reported.
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 LOX wrote it up.
Strong and gusty northerly winds impacted the mountains of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties. Peak wind gusts, up to 76 MPH, were reported.
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 Mar 15, 7:58 PM PST, 49 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service Los Angeles/Oxnard CA
858 PM PDT Tue Mar 15 2022
.SYNOPSIS...15/720 PM.
Gusty north winds will continue at times through Thursday
morning, strongest across the Santa Barbara south coast and most
of the mountains. Temperatures will remain several degrees above
normal for inland areas, though cooler at the coast. A significant
cooling trend is expected by the weekend, with a chance of rain
and mountain snow. Much warmer temperatures expected next week.
&&
.SHORT TERM (TUE-FRI)...15/732 PM.
***UPDATE***
A weak system pushing through the area this evening is causing
increasing northerly gradients, with gusty north winds observed in
the typical north wind magnet areas. This includes southern Santa
Barbara County, where gusts are currently around 40 mph through
the western passes and canyons of the South Coast. In the Los
Angeles Co. mountains, northwest winds are slightly weaker,
between 30 to 40 mph as of 7 PM, but forecast to increase by 5-10
mph during the late evening to overnight hours. Gusts up to 50 mph
are likely in this area, strongest through the Interstate 5
Corridor, from around 3 AM into mid-morning Wednesday. Gusty west
winds in the Antelope Valley are between 25-35 mph, not up to
Advisory level there, but enough to cause some blowing sand.
As the upper disturbance moves through, plenty of high clouds are
streaming over the region. Some moisture at lower levels may
bring light snow showers in upslope flow to the north- facing
mountain slopes, but with snow levels above 6000 feet there should
be no Grapevine impacts.
***From Previous Discussion***
Northerly flow to continue through Wednesday night and additional
wind advisories are possible for the same areas. By Thursday
northerly flow shifts to more of a Santa Ana with some breezy
northeast winds across LA/Ventura Counties. Doesn't really look
advisory level at this point but the combo of the offshore push
and rising heights should cause temps to warm up. Additional
warming expected Friday with lighter offshore winds in the morning
turning onshore in the afternoon.
.LONG TERM (SAT-TUE)...15/131 PM.
Forecast for the weekend remains a tricky one as models definitely
haven't settled on a consistent solution. Despite the uncertainty
with the specifics, since none of the solutions so far over the
last few days have indicated anything more than just scattered
light showers confidence remains high that for most areas impacts
will be minimal. However, there are a couple features that bear
watching. Some of the solutions, mainly from the GEFS, show a
potential for some very strong northerly winds Saturday night and
very cold air. If this scenario pans out there could be some very
low elevation snow impacting area roads (including Interstate 5).
So gusty winds, much colder temperatures, and light snow
accumulations at lower than usual elevations are still on the
table. The ECMWF is far less interesting, though still cooler with
a lower chance of precipitation and less wind.
Next week's forecast is looking considerably warmer, especially by
Tuesday and Wednesday with some record highs possible. There is
good agreement among the ensemble members for a rapidly building
high pressure ridge across the eastern Pacific with some offshore
flow developing. The latter item will be the primary determining
factor for the warm temps to make it to the coast so there is less
confidence there. But for valleys and other inland areas
confidence is high that will see mid 80s by Tuesday and possibly
upper 80s Wed/Thu.
&&
.AVIATION...16/0016Z.
At 2207Z at KLAX, the marine layer was near 700 ft deep. The top
of the inversion was around 1400 feet with a temperature of 19 C.
High confidence in most TAFs. Moderate confidence in KPRB, KSBP,
KSMX, KLAX, and KLGB. Timing of cat changes could be off by +/- 2
hours. There is a 30% chance that KSBP and KSMX remain VFR. There
is a 20% chance of IFR cigs at KLAX between 09-16Z.
KLAX...Moderate to high confidence in TAF. There is a 20% chance
of BKN005-008 cigs between 09Z and 16Z. Good confidence in any
east wind component remaining less than 6 knots this morning.
There is a 20% chance of north winds up to 15 kt between 09Z and
15Z Wed.
KBUR...High confidence in TAF.
&&
.MARINE...15/857 PM.
Moderate to high confidence in the current forecast.
For the outer waters, Gale force NW winds are expected in the
southern two zones (PZZ673/676) and continue thru late tonight.
Then Small Craft Advisory (SCA) level NW winds are expected thru
Sat. There is a 30-40% chance of Gale Force winds again Wed
afternoon into Wed night. In the northern zone (PZZ670), SCA level NW
winds are expected to continue thru at least late Wed night.
There is a chance that winds will drop below SCA levels Thu
morning, but seas may remain at SCA levels. SCA level NW winds are
likely much of the time Thu afternoon thru Sat.
In the inner waters north of Pt. Sal, SCA level NW winds are
expected thru this evening, though seas will likely remain at SCA
levels thru late tonight. SCA level NW winds are expected during
the afternoon/evening hours Sat with a 50% chance of SCA level
winds during the afternoon and evening hours Wed/Thu/Fri.
Across the SBA Channel, SCA level W-NW winds are expected through
late tonight, mainly in western portions. SCA level winds are
expected on Wed as well. On Thu, there is a 50% chance of SCA
level W-NW winds from mid afternoon through late evening. SCA
level W-NW winds are expected Fri through Sat.
Across the southern inner waters, SCA level W-NW winds are likely
Wed afternoon and evening. There is a 40% chance of SCA level
winds during the afternoon and evening hours Thu and Fri, then SCA
level winds are likely Sat.
&&
.BEACHES...15/756 PM.
Moderately high swell with a period of 20 seconds is expected
to continue to bring High Surf conditions to the Central Coast
through Thursday afternoon, therefore a High Surf Advisory is in
effect. The High Surf will likely spread to west facing beaches of
Ventura County on Wednesday and Thursday. Elevated surf is
expected for west facing beaches of LA County Wed into Thursday,
thus a Beach Hazards Statement has been issued.
&&
.LOX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CA...High Surf Advisory in effect until 3 PM PDT Thursday for
zones 34-35. (See LAXCFWLOX).
Wind Advisory in effect until 3 AM PDT Wednesday for zones
39-52. (See LAXNPWLOX).
High Surf Advisory in effect from 3 AM Wednesday to 3 PM PDT
Thursday for zone 40. (See LAXCFWLOX).
Beach Hazards Statement in effect from 3 AM PDT Wednesday
through Thursday afternoon for zones 41-87. (See LAXCFWLOX).
Wind Advisory in effect until 9 AM PDT Wednesday for zones
53-54-88. (See LAXNPWLOX).
PZ...Small Craft Advisory in effect until 3 AM PDT Wednesday for
zones 645-650. (See LAXMWWLOX).
Small Craft Advisory in effect until 3 AM PDT Thursday for
zone 670. (See LAXMWWLOX).
Gale Warning in effect until 3 AM PDT Wednesday for zones
673-676. (See LAXMWWLOX).
&&
PUBLIC...MW/Smith
AVIATION...Lund
MARINE...Sweet/Lund
BEACHES...Sweet/Lund
SYNOPSIS...MW/Smith
weather.gov/losangeles
Experimental Graphical Hazardous Weather Outlook at:
https://www.weather.gov/erh/ghwo?wfo=lox2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong and gusty northerly wind impacted the Santa Ynez Mountains in southern Santa Barbara county. Peak wind gusts, up to 76 MPH, were reported at the Montecito Hills RAWS.
Strong and gusty northerly wind impacted the mountains of Los Angeles county. Some peak wind gust reports include: Sandberg (gust 70 MPH), Warm Springs RAWS (gust 61 MPH) and Palo Sola Truck Trail (gust 63 MPH).
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in California, March 2022
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: 1019525, 1019528.