Strong Wind — North Bay Interior Valleys, California

2024-12-14 to 2024-12-16 · North Bay Interior Valleys, California

Event narrative

A paddle boarder went missing in the San Pablo Bay off the coast of China Camp. The paddle boarder was last seen on December 14 wearing a black wetsuit and black beanie. The Coast Guard found his paddleboard on the morning of December 16 along the shoreline of Contra Costa County near Point Pinole. While there are few observations from the San Pablo Bay itself, nearby weather stations recorded a maximum gust of around 40-50 mph on the 14th.

Wider weather episode

An intense storm system came through the Bay Area and Central Coast through the night of Friday December 13 into Saturday December 14 as a cold front combined with a developing low pressure system off the California coast, causing numerous weather impacts throughout the region. Among the notable impacts from the system, a confirmed EF1 tornado touched down in Scotts Valley, the first recorded tornado warning in San Francisco received significant public and media attention, strong gusts associated with a squall line caused multiple weather impacts across the region, and most of the city of Monterey and the surrounding cities of Seaside and Marina lost power on Saturday morning and did not get it back until the following Sunday afternoon and evening.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1220745. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.