Sunday, December 24, 2017

[californiadisasters] On This Date In California Weather History (December 22)



2011: Strong offshore winds hit the region. Wind gusts topped 75 mph at Fremont Canyon, with numerous other reporting sites in the 50 to 60 mph range.

2010: In terms of measurable rainfall, today's date ends the series of strong storm systems laden with tropical moisture which started on December 17th in the central and southern San Joaquin Valley.
Bakersfield set a new all-time record for rainfall for the month of December.
By this date, Bakersfield received a total of 4.95" since the 1st; only 0.37" of this amount occurred before the 17th.

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.

2010: A very wet period began 12/17 and continued through this day 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 12/21 to this day.
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 inches and as much as 2 feet above 7500 feet.

1999:
Santa Ana winds started on 12.21 and ended on this day.
A gust of 68 mph was measured at Campo, 53 mph at Huntington Beach, 44 mph in Orange.
House and tree damage occurred in Hemet.

1997: A period of Santa Ana winds started on 12.18 and 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 12.21 and ended on this day spread rainfall of2"  in the coastal areas, and 2"-5" in the inland valleys and foothills.
On this day a tornado hit Cabazon and threw a five- ton mobile home 30 feet.
Minor damage was incurred by six other mobile homes.
Storm winds were measured at 40 to 50 mph.

1996: 24" of snow fell at Tahoe City (west shore Lake Tahoe), with 27" reported at Mammoth Lakes Ranger Station.

1996: China Lake NAS recorded a wind gust of 86 mph, second highest gust on record here for any month.

1990: The Big Freeze of 1990 peaked on this day.
Low temperatures on this morning of the 22nd included:
Pinnacles National Monument...10
° F  Watsonville.....12° F  Napa....14° F Hollister.....14° F  Santa Rosa.....18° F Kentfield.....18° F Livermore....18  San Jose....19° F  Monterey.....20° F  San Rafael.....20° F  Salinas....24° F  Oakland....27° F  San Francisco Airport...27° F 
San Francisco Downtown....28
° F
The low temperatures recorded at Pinnacles, Watsonville, Napa, Hollister, Livermore, Monterey and San Rafael represent all-time record low temperatures for these locations.

1990:
Bishop, CA, records a morning low of -8° F which tied for the lowest temperature on record.
Spring Valley State Park in Lincoln County records a low temperature of -38° F which ranks as their second coldest low temperature ever.
The low the previous day was -45° F ranks as their coldest low ever and ties for the Nevada all-time state record low for the month of December.

1990: The morning low at Cedarville (Surprise Valley, Modoc Co.) was -28° F, its all-time record low for December.

1990: A frigid air mass descended all over the West on this day and on 12.23.
Numerous low maximum and low minimum temperature records were broken, even some all-time records.
On this day the high was 22° F in Palomar Mountain, the lowest maximum temperature on record.
This also occurred the next day on 12.23.
On this day the low was 29° F at Redondo Beach.
Santa Barbara and Lompoc both dipped to 20° F, establishing all-time record lows for any date.

1982: Up to four feet of snow fell in the Sierra in less than 24 hours.
Lodgepole (Sequoia-Kings Cyn. NP) measured 27" of snow with a storm total liquid equivalent of 10.09".
Snowpack on some of the higher peaks from this storm was raised to nearly 100".

1971:
A series of wet storms hit the region during this week starting on this day and ending on 12.28.
19.44" fell in Lake Arrowhead, 15.26" in Lytle Creek, 12.31" in Big Bear Lake, 7.49" in Palomar Mountain, 5.45" in San Bernardino, 4.98" in Santa Ana, 3.92" in Redlands, 3.04" in Riverside, 2.28" in San Diego, 1.24" in Palm Springs, and 1.02" in Victorville.
Extensive street flooding occurred across the region.
This day marked the start of seven consecutive days (the most on record) of measurable precipitation in Victorville, which ended on 12.28.
This also occurred on 2.18-24.2005, 1.13-19.1993, and 2.14-20.1980.

1970: A series of storms brought heavy rain and snow to the region starting on 12.17 and ending on this day.
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.

1967: Highest sea-level pressure ever recorded at Las Vegas, NV, 30.80".

1964: Strong winds blew down trees, fences and large signs in the Reno, NV, and Carson City, NV, areas.

1945: A very wet storm struck Southern California on this day and on 12.23.
Numerous daily precipitation records were set.
2.6" of rain fell in San Diego, the 6th greatest daily rainfall on record and the wettest December day.
3.72" fell in Santa Ana, the 4th greatest daily rainfall on record and the wettest December day.
6.61" of precipitation fell in Palomar Mountain, the 6th greatest daily precipitation on record (the 2nd greatest for December).
Only minor flooding closed some roads and bridges around San Bernardino.

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

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


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