Dust Devil — Riverside, California

2024-08-04 · near Ellis, Riverside, California

Event narrative

Media outlets from LA reported 2 fatalities associated with skydiving deaths. At least 1 large dust devil was reported at the time of the accident and was reported to cause the instructor to loose control of the chute. The temperature was 103F and wind gusts were as high as 18 mph at nearby weather stations. This region is flat and know as the Inland Empire. The skydiving facility is at the Perris Valley airport. The instructor and the student died on scene and the hospital. Both skydivers were reported to be female and 28 years old.

Wider weather episode

There were 2 skydivers in Lake Elsinore, one instructor and one recreationalist. While descending it was reported that a large dust devil extending over 100 feet above ground cause their parachute to twist and loose control. They accelerated to the ground. Both were pronounced dead, one at the scene and one at the hospital.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.7696, -117.2265)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1214424. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.