A strong longwave trough moving into the western United States caused strong west winds to blow across much of the mountains and passes of Southern California on May 7th and 8th.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 longwave trough moving into the western United States caused strong west winds to blow across much of the mountains and passes of Southern California on May 7th and 8th.
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 6, 7:32 PM PST, 4 hours 28 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service San Diego CA
832 PM PDT Fri May 6 2022
.SYNOPSIS...
A low pressure system will move closer to the West Coast this
weekend, bringing strong onshore flow, cooler conditions, and a
deeper marine layer. Strong, gusty west winds are expected in the
mountains and deserts over the weekend and into early next week. For
the middle to end of next week, warming is expected but uncertainty
remains on how quickly and how much.
&&
.DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTIES...
Update:
Highs today across our service area ranged from 64 degrees at
Oceanside and Del Mar to 106 degrees at Ocotillo Wells.
Some marine layer low cloudiness is forming near the coast this
evening. This trend will continue with low clouds moving further
into the inland valleys overnight compared to the past couple of
nights. The forecast has this handled well and no changes were
made this evening.
Previous Discussion:
Forecast Highlights:
*Strong, gusty west winds for the mountains and deserts this weekend
into early next week.
*Cooling and increased cloud cover over the weekend into early next
week.
*Warming trend for the middle to end of next week, low confidence in
details.
At 1:30 PM, temperatures this afternoon were in the 60s along the
coast, mid to upper 70s into the mid-80s in the valleys and High
Desert, mid-60s to mid-70s in the mountains, and in the upper 90s
to 100 in the low deserts. Skies were mostly clear with a few
lingering low clouds near the beaches. A coastal eddy developing
tonight paired with increased onshore flow will deepen the marine
layer into Saturday morning with even further deepening into
Sunday morning. By Sunday, low clouds are expected to reach the
lower coastal mountain slopes.
A trough of low pressure passing to the north tonight will help
spread cooling inland this weekend. High temperatures on Saturday
are expected to be slightly above normal in the mountains and
deserts and near to slightly below normal in the coast and valleys.
By Sunday, widespread below average temperatures are expected.
Temperatures will mainly be 5 to 10 degrees below average, with the
greatest difference in the mountains.
Strong, gusty west winds are expected in the mountains and deserts
this weekend. The strongest winds are expected Sunday afternoon and
evening. Stronger winds along and near the desert slopes of the
mountains and in the northern Coachella Valley below the San
Gorgonio Pass could gust to around 60 mph for Sunday afternoon and
evening with isolated gusts to 70 mph.
Temperatures on Monday and Tuesday will continue to cool, with
temperatures on Wednesday expected to be closer to temperatures on
Tuesday. For the middle to end of next week, there remains a 7 to 10
degree temperature spread with slow warming indicated for Thursday
into the weekend. Confidence in temperatures is low at this time and
dependent on just how quickly low pressure along the West Coast
weakens and moves east. The ECMWF deterministic and one-third of its
ensemble members continue to be an outlier compared to other global
model outputs. There is more ensemble support for the low pressure
system moving east faster with greater and faster warming Thursday
and Friday. If the ECMWF solution were to verify, it would maintain
cooler conditions and introduce a chance of rain to the forecast.
Current forecast is in line with the deterministic NBM, showing a
gradual warming for the end of the week with chances of rain less
than 10 percent.
&&
.AVIATION...
070315Z...Coast/Valleys...Low clouds increasing in coverage tonight
with bases 700-1100 ft MSL, lifting to 1000-1500 ft MSL with tops to
1700 ft MSL after 09Z and spreading up to 25 miles inland by 12Z
Sat. Local vis below 3 miles in fog will occur in the valleys
through 16Z. Expect clearing 15Z-17Z in the valleys and 17Z-20Z near
the coast, with some beaches remaining cloudy into the afternoon.
Mountains/Deserts...Mostly clear skies with unrestricted VIS will
continue through Sat morning. Areas of west winds with gusts 25-35
knots from the mountain crests east into the deserts will continue
through 22Z Sat, with associated moderate up/downdrafts. Wind gusts
will increase to 35-50 knots after 22Z Sat.
&&
.MARINE...
West-northwest winds will locally gust around 20 kt this evening
near San Clemente Island. Stronger northwest winds and building seas
will likely develop late Saturday with gusts to 25 kt in the outer
coastal waters, increasing Sunday and Monday to 25-30 kt in the
outer waters and 20-25 kt in the inner waters. Winds may decrease
slightly Tuesday with gusts lowering to 20-25 kt, then increase
again Wednesday before lowering Thursday. Steep waves and large
combined seas are also likely, peaking Sunday and Monday at 8-12 ft
with periods mostly 10 seconds or less. This will lead to a
prolonged period of hazardous boating conditions.
&&
.SKYWARN...
Skywarn activation is not requested. However weather spotters are
encouraged to report significant weather conditions.
&&
.SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CA...Wind Advisory from noon Saturday to 6 PM PDT Monday for Apple
and Lucerne Valleys-Coachella Valley-Riverside County
Mountains-San Bernardino County Mountains-San Diego County
Deserts-San Diego County Mountains-San Gorgonio Pass Near
Banning.
PZ...Small Craft Advisory from 2 PM Saturday to 10 PM PDT Wednesday
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...Gregoria (Update)/CO (Previous Discussion)
AVIATION/MARINE...PGThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong west winds occurred across the Riverside County Mountains on May 7th and 8th. Several gusts of 60 to 70 mph occurred along with localized higher gusts. The Toro Peak HPWREN site recorded a peak wind gust of 84 mph.
Strong west winds occurred across the San Gorgonio Pass on May 7th and 8th. Several gusts of 50 to 60 mph occurred along with localized higher gusts. The Whitewater RAWS site recorded a peak wind gust of 67 mph.
Strong west winds occurred across the San Diego County Mountains on May 7th and 8th. Several gusts of 45 to 55 mph occurred along with localized higher gusts. The Volcan Mountain SDGE site recorded a peak wind gust of 59 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, May 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: 1019564, 1019565, 1019566.