Surface high pressure moving through the Great Basin combined with low level low pressure over northwest Mexico to create some enhanced northeast winds across Southern California. This event was mainly confined to the mountains, with a few gusts between 60-70 mph occurring over mountain peaks and ridgelines.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
Surface high pressure moving through the Great Basin combined with low level low pressure over northwest Mexico to create some enhanced northeast winds across Southern California. This event was mainly confined to the mountains, with a few gusts between 60-70 mph occurring over mountain peaks and ridgelines.
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 5, 9:05 PM PST, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service San Diego CA
905 PM PST Sat Mar 5 2022
.SYNOPSIS...
Windy and cold tonight with showers in San Diego County and snow
showers in the mountains ending late. Sunday will be dry and cool
followed by a slightly warmer day Monday. A moderate strength Santa
Ana pattern next week will bring dry weather and breezy northeast
winds to the mountains and passes at times. Next weekend will be
warm and dry as an upper ridge builds over California.
&&
.DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTIES...
* Snow in the mountains ending tonight.
* Snow and ice covered mountain roads through Sunday morning.
* Santa Ana wind pattern and warming conditions next week
Snow totals in the San Bernardino mountains today ranged from 3-6"
with multiple reports of accidents on the snow and ice covered
roads. Snow was reported at the top of the Cajon Pass at
around 4,000 feet. The snow level bottomed out at 3,500 feet
where 1" of snow was reported in the SBD mtn foothills near
Lucerne Valley.
At 9 PM the main rain/snow band was moving across the eastern San
Bernardino Mountains, over the San Gorgonio Pass and into the
Riverside County mountains. Orange County was dry. Farther south in
San Diego County, widespread showers extended out over the coastal
water and were streaming inland across the coastal and valley
zones. Snow was falling in the mountains at Julian (~4,000
ft) and Mt Laguna (~6,000 ft). Black ice on Interstate 8 through the
San Diego County mountains resulted in several spinouts with some
vehicles sliding off the roadway. The showers in San Diego County
will gradually taper off late tonight, ending in south county
shortly after sunrise Sunday.
*From Previous Discussion*
This storm will exit the region overnight with offshore winds on
the back side of the low as a surface high builds into the Great
Basin. Clear skies will return and conditions will gradually warm
as Santa Ana winds pick up, peaking in intensity Monday morning
but lasting through Tuesday and of moderate strength with
strongest winds immediately below the Cajon Pass.
Winds will weaken Wednesday-Thursday. Another shortwave will dive
in from the north late Thursday through Friday. Track and strength
of this will have implications mainly on how strong Santa Ana
winds will get behind this feature as it is looking to be
inside/east of our region. Few ensemble members show precip, so
the most likely scenario is for dry weather to continue with
another round of moderate strength Santa Ana winds by Thursday
night-Friday. GEFS is weaker with this trough, while EPS is
stronger. Will watch trends over the coming days on this as there
is higher than normal uncertainty on Santa Ana wind strength with
this.
Behind this trough on Friday, as it moves east, the propensity of
ensemble guidance favors an upper ridge building in from the
west. GEFS and EPS mean H5 height anomalies are positive with the
building ridge and it becomes established over the state through
at least about March 19th. This is why the Climate Prediction
Center has our region favoring warmer and drier than normal
conditions for the March 13-19 period.
&&
.AVIATION...
060500Z...SCT -SHRA with -SHSN in the mountains will continue
through 13Z Sun, mainly in San Diego County, with areas of BKN
cloud bases 2500-4000 ft MSL and tops to 8000 ft MSL. Areas of
mountain terrain will be obscured through 13Z Sun. Mostly SCT
conditions will prevail after 13Z Sun, with cloud bases mostly above
3000 ft MSL.
Areas of west winds 20-30 knots with gusts 35-50 knots will occur
from the mountain crests east and north through the desert slopes
and locally into the desert through Sun morning. MOD-STG
up/downdrafts and rotors will continue over/east of the
mountains, including vcnty KPSP this evening.
&&
.MARINE...
Isolated showers will occur at times through late tonight.
West winds with gusts 20-30 knots, combined seas of 8-13 feet, and
steep waves will produce conditions hazardous to small craft through
Sunday morning. A Small Craft Advisory remains in effect through
10 AM Sunday.
&&
.BEACHES...
Surf of 3 to 6 feet and local sets to 8 feet will continue through
Sunday morning. Large waves and a high rip current risk will result
in dangerous swimming conditions. The High Surf Advisory remains in
effect through noon Sunday.
&&
.SKYWARN...
Skywarn spotters, please share reports of mountain snow, ice covered
roads, and rain totals west of the mountains.
&&
.SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CA...Winter Storm Warning until 10 PM PST this evening for Riverside
County Mountains-San Bernardino County Mountains.
Winter Weather Advisory until 2 AM PST Sunday for San Diego
County Mountains.
Wind Advisory until 3 AM PST Sunday for Coachella Valley-San
Diego County Deserts-San Gorgonio Pass Near Banning.
Wind Advisory until 10 PM PST this evening for Apple and Lucerne
Valleys.
High Surf Advisory until noon PST Sunday for Orange County
Coastal Areas-San Diego County Coastal Areas.
PZ...Small Craft Advisory until 10 AM PST 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.
&&
EVENING UPDATE...Moede
PUBLIC...Gregoria
AVIATION/MARINE...MaxwellPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
651 PM PST SAT MAR 5 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0545 PM SNOW 1 ESE LAKE ARROWHEAD 34.24N 117.18W
03/05/2022 E4.0 INCH SAN BERNARDINO CA PUBLIC
SNOW AND ICE COVERED ROADS CONTRIBUTED TO A
MULTI-CAR PILEUP ON KUFFEL CANYON ROAD AT
WABASH DRIVE. CARS KEPT SLIDING DOWN THE
HILL INTO THE PILEUP.
&&
MOEDEPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
707 PM PST SAT MAR 5 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0629 PM SNOW 9 NE CAMPO 32.70N 116.34W
03/05/2022 E1.0 INCH SAN DIEGO CA DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
BLACK ICE ON I-8 AT WILLIAMS ROAD. A CAR
LOST CONTROL, SKIDDED OFF THE ROAD, AND WENT
DOWN THE EMBANKMENT. ELEVATION 4,100 FEET. A
SEPARATE SOLO VEHICLE SPINOUT OCCURRED IN
THIS AREA AT 655 PM.
&&
MOEDEThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Santa Ana Winds occurred across the San Bernardino County Mountains on March 7th. An observation site at Marshall Peak recorded a peak wind gust of 67 mph at 7:45 PM on March 7th.
Santa Ana Winds occurred across the Santa Ana Mountains and foothills on March 7th. An observation site at Santiago Peak recorded a peak wind gust of 60 mph at 8:05 PM on March 7th.
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: 1015398, 1015399.