California, 2024

Flash Flood in California, September 19, 2024

September 19, 2024 · NWS LOX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Strong thunderstorms produced torrential rainfall across the Cuyama Valley, producing flash flooding and debris flows across Highway 166.

Where it happened

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  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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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 LOX wrote it up.

Strong thunderstorms produced torrential rainfall across the Cuyama Valley, producing flash flooding and debris flows across Highway 166.

The radar

The Vandenberg AFB radar (KVBX), 58 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:14 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Santa Barbara

When
September 19, 3:13 PM PST to 8:00 PM PST
Where
Santa Barbara County, 6.98 mi WNW of New Cuyama Arpt to 6.66 mi WNW of New Cuyama Arpt
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
34.983, -119.785

Strong thunderstorms generated torrential rainfall across the Cuyama Valley, producing flash flooding across Highway 166 near Wasioja Road. Twenty three vehicles were stuck in the flood waters and debris on Highway 166.

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in California, September 2024

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: 1207213.