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High Wind — Southern Monterey Bay And Big Sur Coast, California
February 10, 2026 · NOAA Storm Events record
Event narrative (NOAA)
The California Highway Patrol received initial reports of a vehicle going over the cliff off of Highway One into the ocean at 4:20 PM on 2/10/2026. Nearby PGE observation stations reported 40 mph (Coast Road, 404 ft in elevation, north of accident site) and 45 mph (Funt Ranch, 995 ft in elevation, due east and uphill of accident site) gusts at 4:00PM. Sites in the wider vicinity of the accident reported light rain was occurring between 4PM and 5PM. The CHP incident report stated at 4:20PM that it was too windy to see vehicle at the bottom of the cliff. The CHP report mentions a 30 mph gust at 4:52 PM after Coast Guard operations began to reach the vehicle. The Monterey County Sheriff stated that weather conditions made recovery efforts extremely challenging. The victim was recovered around
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Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database. Deaths and injuries are those NOAA classifies as direct. Damage is the reporting office's estimate at the time and is not inflation-adjusted. This is a catalogue record, not a forecast.