More than a dozen boats were declared missing, and the wreckage of an 80-foot yacht washed up near Huntington Beach, a usually picturesque surf spot. Twenty-three people drowned when a sport fishing boat capsized just 500 feet from a pier at Point Mugu, near Oxnard. The overall damage was estimated to be around $2 million, the equivalent of around $44 million in today’s dollars. Besides the 1939 storm, the only other tropical storm to make landfall in the state was on Oct. 2, 1858, when a hurricane shook San Diego, damaging homes, uprooting trees and causing inland flooding. Christopher Landsea, a forecaster with the National Hurricane Center and an author of the paper, noted that there were no reported injuries or fatalities.

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Persons: Christopher Landsea Organizations: The Times, Man, Southwestern, Administration, National Hurricane Center Locations: Huntington Beach, Mugu, Oxnard, Los Angeles, Warsaw, Poland, Southwestern United States, California, San Diego, Daily Alta California