Winter Storm — Orange County Coastal Plain, California

1999-04-03 to 1999-04-04 · Orange County Coastal Plain, California

Event narrative

Heavy surf and strong wind gusts ripped sails and parted lines on several yachts racing between Catalina Island and Newport, grounded two small boats, and capsized two others. The three man crew of one boat was rescued. Debris from the other boat was found, but the one man crew was lost and presumed drowned. Strong winds also caused blowing sand and reduced visibilities from Seal Beach to San Clemente, tore loose road signs along Pacific Coast Highway between Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach, and downed power lines and trees throughout Orange County. Farther south in San Diego County, boats were jumbled about in San Diego Bay marinas and power outages occurred in Point Loma.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5693146. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.