A strong upper-level low pressure system produced gusty winds across the mountains and desert slopes and widespread light rainfall March 19-20, 2022.
Every event with a place to put it; 11 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.
A strong upper-level low pressure system produced gusty winds across the mountains and desert slopes and widespread light rainfall March 19-20, 2022.
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 Mar 18, 8:28 PM PST, 3 hours 32 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service San Diego CA
928 PM PDT Fri Mar 18 2022
.SYNOPSIS...
Clear skies and a shallow marine layer along the coast will bring
the possibility of fog tonight into Saturday morning. The low clouds
and fog will surge farther inland late Saturday, as westerly winds
increase ahead of an incoming trough from the northwest. Showers
will break out along and west of the mountains late Saturday night
and continue into Sunday morning, with mostly light rainfall and
snowfall expected. Drier air will overspread the region from north
to south later Sunday and Monday on gusty northerly winds. A ridge
building eastward off the Pacific will bring fair, dry and much
warmer weather next week.
&&
.DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTIES...
.Patchy dense fog added to coastal areas tonight...
At 9 PM PDT, skies were mostly clear across Southern California,
except for a few wispy cirrus clouds. The sfc pressure gradients
were weak and winds were reported light. Dewpoints have surged well
into the 50s along the coast, even though the 00Z Miramar sounding
was bone dry. While a patch of low clouds has just become visible
over the San Diego County coast, most areas were clear at 9 PM
PDT. Numerous HRRR runs show more fog developing over coastal areas
after 09Z, and given the mostly clear skies, light winds, and
shallow moisture layer, suspect we will see more, especially if we
get a weak eddy circulation later tonight. Some of the fog could be
dense. While not certain, it looks like we have a better than 50-50
chance for some dense fog over coastal and mesa areas of, especially
San Diego County. The forecast has been updated to include fog in
these areas, including O.C.
The winds will be getting gusty over the mts/deserts as a Pacific
trough digs SE over California this weekend. Wind Advisories may be
needed for onshore, and then offshore winds.
From previous discussion...
The vorticity maximum will race southeastward Saturday night into
Sunday, rounding the base of the trough and leading to PVA over
Southern California early Sunday. This will lead to enough lift to
generate scattered showers, with the highest chance occurring
across San Diego County. The 12z ECMWF ENS is trending slightly
higher in PWAT values for KSAN, maxing out with several ensemble
members at 0.9 inch. Forecast model soundings are showing very
modest CAPE values with the moisture profile only extending 2-3
km AGL and relatively warm temperatures aloft. This is not very
conducive for widespread thunderstorm develop, though a few
rumbles of thunder cannot be completely ruled out. Precipitation
amounts are expected to remain light, with amounts of 0.01-0.20
inch possible for the coast and valleys, 0.10-0.25 for the
mountains, and very little rain in the deserts. Snow levels will
begin near 7,000 feet Saturday night and fall as low as 5,000 feet
Sunday morning, but precipitation amounts will remain light so
only an inch or two of snow is expected in the mountains.
Breezy west to southwest winds will develop on Saturday and peak
Saturday night into Sunday morning. Maximum wind gusts look to top
out near 50 to 55 mph across the mountains and desert slopes.
This system will quickly move south and east of the region and a
strong ridge will develop off the West Coast on Sunday. Winds are
expected to turn offshore through Sunday leading to modest
warming, with more substantial warming for Monday through next
week. Periods of Santa Ana winds are expected through next week,
with the strongest winds currently looking to occur on Tuesday.
This will lead to elevated fire weather conditions as breezy winds
combine with falling relative humidity values.
Perhaps the most noticeable impact from this ridge will be the
high temperatures through the middle of next week. The ECMWF EFI
is showing values in the 50th to 70th percentile for areas west of
the mountains on Tuesday with an area in the 80th percentile in
Orange County for high temperatures, and widespread 70th to 80th
percentile west of the mountains for Wednesday. The cluster
analysis for days 3-7 all support an intense ridge situated over
the West Coast next week, though amplitude differences exist; the
EPS and CMCE clusters are favoring a stronger ridge while the
GEFS-dominant cluster shows a slightly weaker solution.
Regardless, it is looking more likely that a strong ridge will
dominate our weather through much of next week. High temperatures
could reach the mid- to upper-80s for coastal areas, the upper-80s
to low-90s for the valleys and the low-90s for the lower deserts.
As it stands now, several high temperature records could be in
jeopardy a few days in a row next week.
&&
.AVIATION...
190400Z...Low clouds and patchy dense fog are expected overnight,
mainly after 07Z, along the coast and into the western valleys. The
low clouds and fog will affect most likely all of the coastal sites,
but not expected to reach KONT. Cigs will range from 500-1000 ft
MSL. Areas of vis reduced to 1 mile possible, especially along
higher coastal terrain. Vis and cigs expected to clear by 19Z Sat.
Onshore wind gusts becoming strong by late Saturday afternoon, with
areas of light rain after 03Z Sunday morning with widespread cigs
around 2000-4000 ft MSL possible.
&&
.MARINE...
A storm will bring northwest winds gusting 25-30 knots Saturday
afternoon into Sunday night, with combined seas 7 to 11 feet.
Strongest winds and highest seas will be in the outer coastal
waters. Conditions will be hazardous to small craft.
&&
.Beaches...
Surf will increase on Sunday with some shorter-period wind swell.
Elevated surf of 3 to 6 feet is expected at the Orange County
beaches, with surf of 4 to 7 feet at the San Diego County beaches.
The highest surf will likely be in San Diego County south of Del Mar.
&&
.SKYWARN...
Skywarn activation is not requested. However weather spotters are
encouraged to report significant weather conditions.
&&
.SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CA...NONE.
PZ...Small Craft Advisory from 5 PM Saturday to 11 PM PDT Sunday for
Coastal Waters from San Mateo Point to the Mexican Border
and out to 30 nm-Waters from San Mateo point to the Mexican
Border Extending 30 to 60 nm out including San Clemente
Island.
&&
PUBLIC...10/Schenk
AVIATION/MARINE...JMBThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
11 strong wind, 4 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Widespread rainfall occurred from the evening of March 19 to the morning of March 20. Amounts of 0.20-0.50 inch were measured from the coast to the mountains, with amounts of 0.01-0.25 inch for the deserts.
Widespread rainfall occurred from the evening of March 19 to the morning of March 20. Amounts of 0.05-0.25 inch were measured from the coast to the mountains.
Widespread rainfall occurred from the evening of March 19 to the morning of March 20. Amounts of 0.05-0.15 inch were across the Inland Empire and mountains.
SCE269 at Cushenbury Springs reported a peak wind gust of 56 mph at 3 PM.
Whitewater RAWS site reported a peak wind gust of 50 mph.
SCE338 site at Cajon Lookout reported a peak wind gust of 55 mph.
Silverwood Lake (424SCE) reported a peak wind gust of 53 mph.
SCE484 site at Lucerne Valley reported a peak wind gust of 50 mph.
HPWREN site Toro Peak reported a peak wind gust of 56 mph.
A crash occurred around 1 AM in the University City area of San Diego. Just before the crash at 12:55 AM, the Miramar MCAS ASOS KNKX (2-3 SM NE of crash) reported light rain and mist with a visibility of 2.5 miles. Light rain turned heavier after 1 AM with reduced visibility as low as 1.5 miles. All southbound lanes of I-805 were shut down from 1 AM - 8 AM, when two lanes were reopened to southbound drivers. Driver appeared to avoid serious injury but the truck burst into flames and firefighters were dispatched.
SDGE site Volcan Mountain reported a peak wind gust of 56 mph.
Burns Canyon reported a peak wind gust of 50 mph.
Mt Laguna Observatory reported a peak wind gust of 50 mph.
Marshall Peak reported a peak wind gust of 53 mph.
Santiago Peak reported a peak wind gust of 55 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: 1014057, 1014058, 1014059, 1014045, 1014053, 1014048, 1014049, 1014050, 1014046, 1014056, 1014047, 1014051, 1014052, 1014055, 1014054.