2008: Unusual Christmas weather in Las Vegas, NV.
Thunder was heard in the afternoon while rain fell, then later in the evening snow fell briefly but did not stick.
2007: Strong Santa Ana winds that struck the Inland Empire.
Gusts reached 85 mph at Fremont Canyon (>58 mph for nine consecutive hours) and 58 mph at Ontario.
Trees were downed, big rigs overturned, power outages resulted.
2003: Wet Christmas in the Valley with daily precipitation records set at both Fresno and Bakersfield, with 0.76" at 0.92" recorded respectively.
Flooding occurred in parts of Bakersfield and 4 deaths were attributed indirectly to the heavy rain southeast of Bakersfield.
2003: A strong storm hit the region with the following rainfall amounts: 8.58" at Lytle Creek, 5.79" at Devore, 5.59" at Santiago Peak, 5.40" at Forest Falls, and 3.94" at Volcan Mountain.
0.35" to 2.5" fell at lower elevations.
15 died in mudslides and debris flows in areas burned by wildfires during the previous October:
13 in a church camp in Waterman Canyon north of San Bernardino and two in a campground in Devore.
2000: Santa Ana winds blew on this day and ended on 12.26.
Gusts of 87 mph were measured at Fremont Canyon.
Damage and injuries occurred in Mira Loma and in Orange County.
1988: A week of subfreezing temperatures hit Southern
California starting on 12.24 and ending on 12.30.
Five died as a result of the cold.
1987: Christmas cold snap, Fresno set a record low of 20° F.
Widespread damage to citrus crops.
1987: A cold snap descended on the region. It was 9° F at Mt. Laguna and 22° F in Valley Center on this day.
On 12.26 it was 15° F in Julian and Mt. Laguna, 16° F in Campo, 22° F in Poway, 26° F in El Cajon, 30° F in Del Mar, and 37° F in San Diego.
Extensive damage to avocado and citrus crops resulted.
1971: A series of wet storms hit the region during this week starting on 12.22 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.
1971: 40.2" of snow fell at Portola, with 14.9" of snow being reported at Reno, NV.
1965: 27" of snow fell at Tahoe City (west shore Lake Tahoe).
1953: It was 23° F F in Palm Springs, the lowest temperature on record for
December, and the third lowest on record.
1945: 19" of snow fell at Glenbrook, NV (east shore Lake Tahoe).
1940: 4.02" of rain fell in Palm Springs, the greatest daily amount on record for
December, and the second greatest daily amount on record (greatest: 4.57" on 1.23.1943).
1932: Record for highest barometric pressure ever at Fresno tied, 30.64" (also set on February 1, 1916 and
December 9, 1978).
1924: Santa Rosa set its all time-record low of 9° F.1921: A succession of heavy storms from 12.17 to 12.27 produced a total of 29.38" at Mt. Wilson (only 1.48" had fallen there since 5.23). 30.64" fell at Squirrel Inn at Lake Arrowhead.
From 12.24 to 12.26, 6.76" fell in LA.
Widespread flooding of roads, bridges, railroads, farms, etc., resulted. Lake Arrowhead rose 7 feet.
Flooded areas along the Santa Ana and San Gabriel Rivers were easily seen from atop Mt. Wilson from the coast to 20 to 30 miles inland.
1918: Christmas Chill, coldest high ever in Bakersfield for any month, 32° F.
1891: A period of very cold
weather started on 12.23 and ended on 12.30.
San Diego pools had ice 0.5" thick on the surface and ice 1" thick formed on oranges on trees in Mission Valley.
Source: NWS San Francisco/Monterey, Hanford, Reno, Las Vegas, & San Diego
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