California, 2023

High Wind in California, January 16, 2023

January 16, 2023 · NWS PSR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Enhanced westerly flow from a low pressure system moving across the west coast resulted in strong winds across portions of the Imperial Valley during the evening hours of the 16th.

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.

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 PSR wrote it up.

Enhanced westerly flow from a low pressure system moving across the west coast resulted in strong winds across portions of the Imperial Valley during the evening hours of the 16th.

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 Phoenix, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 16, 1:01 PM PST, 6 hours 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 16, 1:01 PM PST, 6 hours 34 minutes before
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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Imperial Valley

When
January 16, 7:35 PM PST
Where
Imperial Valley forecast zone
Measured
54 kt (62 mph) measured gust
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
33.040, -115.365 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A 62 mph wind gust was measured at the El Centro Naval Facility.

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

More

Every storm in California in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 2023

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1077667.