High Wind — San Gorgonio Pass Near Banning, California

2023-02-21 to 2023-02-22 · San Gorgonio Pass Near Banning, California

Event narrative

Very strong winds impacted the San Gorgonio Pass from the evening on February 21 through the early morning hours on February 22, when widespread wind gusts in excess of 50 mph were observed.

The following are the strongest wind gusts reported:

Whitewater RAWS reported a peak wind gust of 79 mph.

Mesonet station 015SCE Whitewater reported a peak wind gust of 73 mph.

Mesonet station 289SCE Whitewater reported a peak wind gust of 69 mph.

Mesonet station SCE1010 Cabazon reported a peak wind gust of 68 mph.

Mesonet station Whiteater Canyon SCE581 reported a peak wind gust of 65 mph.

Mesonet station Desert Hot Springs reported a peak wind gust of 63 mph.

Wider weather episode

An intense period of heavy snow and blizzard conditions, damaging winds, low-elevation snow and widespread flooding rainfall plagued Southern California February 21-27.

Very strong, and locally damaging, winds developed in the evening on February 21 and continued through February 22, especially impacting the coast and the mountains. Numerous trees were uprooted as a result of the strong winds. Temperatures plummeted on February 22 leading to low-elevation snow and cold-core thunderstorms.

The second, and highly impactful, next wave of the storm system enveloped Southern California starting on February 23. This is the period of heaviest snowfall, and a first-ever Blizzard Warning issued by NWS San Diego was in effect for the San Bernardino County Mountains. Heavy snowfall persisted through early morning on February 26, resulting in FEET of snowfall in the mountains, with many locations in the San Bernardino County Mountains seeing over 50 of snowfall. This resulted in hard closures of many highways in the San Bernardino County Mountains and left people trapped in their homes. Snow levels once again fell on February 25, with snow levels as low as 1000-2000 feet in the Inland Empire and inland Orange County. Widespread heavy thunderstorms occurred leading to local flooding, especially across San Diego County, inland Orange County and portions of the Inland Empire, as well as produced pea size hail.

The impacts of this system, especially in San Bernardino County, would be further exacerbated by an additional significant storm system that would hit only days later, leading to additional FEET of snow.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1078917. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.