High Surf — San Diego County Coastal Areas, California

2017-01-20 to 2017-01-24 · San Diego County Coastal Areas, California

Event narrative

Lifeguards along the San Diego County coast reported 7 to 10 ft surf between the 20th and 24th. Peak sets of 12-15 ft were reported on the 22nd and 21st south of Carlsbad. Two women were swept from the rocks in Sunset Cliffs by surf up to 15 ft between 1700 and 1800PST on the 21st. One woman was killed and the second suffered serious injuries. Two lifeguards were also injured during the rescue attempt. Significant beach erosion and minor coastal flooding occurred along the coast. The Imperial Beach Pier was closed for a time.

Wider weather episode

After a wet start to the month, a series of 3 storms traversed the region between the 19th and 24th of January. The storms produced flooding rains, extreme mountain snowfall, and strong winds from the coast to the deserts. Rainfall for the 6 day period reached 10-13 inches along the coastal slopes from San Bernardino to San Diego County. Over the coast and valleys 2-7 inches of rain occurred with 0.5-3 inches in the deserts. Snow accumulated to elevations as low as 4,000 ft with 2-5 feet of snow above 5,500 feet and as much as 6 feet on the highest peaks. Strong synoptic and squall induced winds combined with saturated soils to down hundreds of trees over the coast and valleys on the 20th. Damages from downed trees was in the millions of dollars. In the City of San Diego 29 high water rescues were conducted on the 20th alone. The governor declared a State of Emergency in San Diego County.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 676363. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.