Sunday, December 24, 2017

[californiadisasters] On This Date In California Weather History (December 21)



2010: A very wet period began 12/17 and continued through 12/22 as strong westerly flow across the Pacific tapped a pool of deep subtropical moisture near Hawaii, resulting in days of moderate to heavy rainfall.
4"-12" of rain fell in the coastal and valley areas over six days, 12"-28" in the mountains, up to 9" in the high desert and less than 4" in the lower desert.
Major landslides and flash flooding impacted the communities of Laguna Beach, Apple Valley, along the Whitewater Channel in the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs, Highland, Corona, Loma Linda, La Jolla, and the city of San Diego from this day to 12.22.
Qualcomm Stadium was flooded, but was miraculously drained and prepared for the Poinsettia Bowl held there on 12/23.
Heavy wet snow accumulated above 6500 feet with amounts over 6" and as much as 24" above 7500 feet.

2010: A continuous feed of moisture into the Mojave Desert triggered by a slow moving area of low pressure off the coast of the Pacific Northwest resulted in several days of moderate to heavy rain falling across southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southwest Utah. This resulted in significant to major flooding on area rivers and washes. The Beaver Dam Wash reached major flood stage and flooded the community of Beaver Dam, AZ. Six homes in Beaver Dam Estates were washed away with one of the homes falling into the wash and floating 200 yards before it crashed into trees, split apart and sank. Another 12 homes were damaged, and two mobile homes and a garage were destroyed. A 300 to 400 foot stretch of Clark Gable Drive was washed out. The raging waters of the Beaver Dam Wash then flowed into the Virgin River which then flooded Littlefield, AZ where a sewer lift station was damaged. Further downstream on the Virgin River at Mesquite, NV flooding damaged a golf course, two homes, a diversion dam for an irrigation canal and 200 feet of reinforced concrete pipes which serve as the outlet for a detention basin. The Virgin River crested at 13.2 feet at the Scenic Bridge in Mesquite at 5:02 PM on December 23rd.

In California the Mojave River overflowed its banks between December 21st and 24th due to a combination of heavy rain and an emergence release of water from the Cedar Spring Dam near Arowhead. Numerous roads in and around Barstow were covered with mud and closed, one bridge was washed out, a broken levee flooded a Barstow neighborhood and 3 swiftwater rescues were performed in Yermo.

In addition, this series of storms produced heavy mountain snows between December 17th and December 22nd. Aspendell, CA measured 88.1 inches of snow while 96 inches was measured at the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort on Mt. Charleston, NV. At least 2 feet of snow fell on Westgard Pass in the White Mountains of California. The tremendous volume of snow crippled mountain communities with a "Code Red" declared by Inyo County for the eastern southern Sierra Nevada as people were advised to either stay put or leave before the snow set in. On Mt. Charleston at least 3 avalanches took place, and this combined with the volume of snow triggered evacuations. There were numerous downed trees and power lines and damages on the mountain alone were estimated at a half a million dollars from the snow.

Elsewhere across the area numerous roads were flooded. Valley of Fire, Echo Canyon and Spring Valley State Parks in Nevada were closed due to flash flooding. Total damages across the entire Las Vegas County Warning and Forecast Area were estimated at $13.5 million in 2010 dollars.

2005:
A powerful storm in the east Pacific generated large surf with sets of 20 feet.
Broken surfboards, rescues, and beach erosion resulted.
All piers were shut down and many were overtopped by the surf.
Sea water flooded a parking lot in Carlsbad and floated several cars.
Boardwalk damage occurred in Dana Point.
Tow-in surfing occurred only 1.5 miles off Seal Beach.

1999: Santa Ana winds started on this day and ended on 12.22.
A gust of 68 mph was measured at Campo, 53 mph at Huntington Beach, and 44 mph in Orange.
House and tree damage occurred in Hemet.

1997: A Pacific storm that moved across southern California and southern Arizona left between 18"-24" inches of snow in the Hualapai Mountains of Mohave County (just east of CA-AZ border) during an 18 hour period.

1997: A waterspout hit Huntington Beach, becoming a tornado.
Damage was done to boats, houses, and city property.
A period of Santa Ana winds that started on 12.18 ended on this day.
Gusts of 60 mph were reported at Rialto.
Gusts of 67 mph were reported at Idyllwild and below Cajon Pass.
One was killed.
The winds downed trees, caused widespread wind damage and contributed to a fire.

1996: A storm that started on this day and ended on 12.22 spread rainfall of 2" in the coastal areas, and 2"-5" in the inland valleys and foothills of Southern California.
Storm winds were measured at 40 to 50 mph.

1996: 39" of snow fell at Boca (near Truckee), with 37" at Tahoe City (west shore Lake Tahoe).
The 36" of snowfall at Daggett Pass is still the one-day snowfall record for Nevada.

1991:
Strong northerly winds resulted from a deep low pressure system over Arizona starting on 12.19 and ending on this day..
Top gusts reached 63 mph in the Santa Monica Mountains, 52 mph in Van Nuys, and 36 mph at LAX airport.

1990: Third day in a row with snow flurries observed in Fresno.

1990: Mount Hamilton (east of San Jose) hit its all-time record low of 7° F.

1979: An F0 tornado touched down at Dos Palos (San Joaquin Valley).

1970: A series of storms brought heavy rain and snow to the region starting on 12.17 and ending on 12.22.
7.03" of precipitation was recorded in Palomar Mountain, 6.93" in Lytle Creek, 6.35" in Lake Arrowhead, 5.38" in Idyllwild, 4.72" in Big Bear Lake, 2.81" in San Bernardino, 2.67" in Santa Ana, 2.27" in Riverside, and 1.84" in San Diego.
Several roads were flooded and washed out in the northern Inland Empire, exacerbated by the extensive burn areas from earlier in the fall.
Snowfall amounts were 32" in Idyllwild, 28" in Big Bear Lake, 26" in Palomar Mountain, and 24" in Lake Arrowhead.
On this day 11" of snow fell in Idyllwild, the greatest daily snowfall on record for December.

1968: A very cold air mass settled over the region, setting numerous low temperature records (both maximum and minimum).
It was 2° in Idyllwild, the lowest temperature on record for December, and the second lowest temperature on record.

1913: 11" of snow fell at Cedarville (Surprise Valley in Modoc Co.).

1909: Greatest unofficial snowstorm ever documented in Las Vegas, NV, with 10-15" of snow.
13" measured on Fremont Street by railroad depot employees.  
From the 20th into the 21st, Mojave received 10.4" of snow.
Just twenty four hours later another storm brought another 2" of snow here.

Source: NWS San Francisco/Monterey, Hanford, Reno, Las Vegas, Phoenix, & San Diego

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Posted by: Kim Noyes <kimnoyes@gmail.com>


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