WEST COAST BEARS BRUNT OF PACIFIC WINTER STORMS

December 18, 2002 — A powerful barrage of record torrential rainfall, high winds and flooding hammered the entire West Coast this week, and forecasters at the NOAA National Weather Service said more storms are possible through Friday.

By mid-week, the Pacific winter storms were blamed for at least 13 deaths, including six in California, four in Utah, two in Oregon and one in Nevada. The winds, with gusts clocked as high as 100 mph, plunged nearly 2 million Californians into darkness.

Another strong storm system will emerge from the Pacific and impact central California on Thursday, said Dave Reynolds, meteorologist in charge at the NOAA National Weather Service forecast office in San Francisco. “The next storm won’t be quite as strong as the current one, but the biggest threat will be flooding, now that the ground is so saturated.”

El Niño Influence
“These storms fit a typical El Niño winter pattern,” said Reynolds. He added: “A tell-tale sign of El Niño’s influence is the incredibly high surf that stretches so far south. The fetch [westerly winds that travel thousands of miles] is so long over the water that we get very high swells, which combined with the strong winds, produce coastal flooding.”

From last Thursday (Dec. 12) to Monday (Dec. 16), California’s northern coast received more than 26 inches of rain. The Mt. Shasta area received more than 20 inches, and parts of the San Francisco Bay region measured more than 17 inches of rain, during the same period.

Reynolds said, “Even if the next storm is a slightly weaker, short-lived event, it will still cause flooding problems.”

Early Warnings
In Carlsbad, Calif., where three people died after flood waters swept their car down a creek just north of San Diego, local forecasters issued hazardous weather outlooks, which called for heavy rain, five days before the deaths.

“We knew this would be a dangerous storm even before it developed on satellite,” said Dan Keeton, meteorologist in charge at in San Diego. He urged residents to take flood warnings seriously and listen to NOAA Weather Radio.

“These flood waters carry the potential to kill. People should not try to drive through flooded areas, no matter how safe they may look,” Keeton said, adding that his staff issued a flood advisory five hours before the deaths.

For The Record
The heavy rainfall set records in California and Nevada: about 2 inches fell within 24 hours, San Francisco picked up 2.1 inches of rain and in Reno 1.29 inches were recorded at the city’s airport.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA National Weather Service

NOAA Says El Niño to Influence U.S. Weather

NOAA's Storm Watch — Get the latest severe weather information across the USA

Media Contact:
Susan Weaver, NOAA National Weather Service, (301) 713-0622