A319
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 174.42; Flight Crew Total 6354.35; Flight Crew Type 1348.85
Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence; Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Regained Aircraft Control; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Weather
Approximately 70 miles south of TIJ; I turned ON the seatbelt sign and advised the flight attendants to take their jump seats. The wind direction and speed were becoming erratic and swinging approximately 80 degrees in short periods of time; so I was getting indications of some weird MET conditions. Which led me to believe we could be encountering some turbulence. Approximately 50 miles south; we encountered some light turbulence. At 40 miles; the turbulence increased rapidly to moderate and severe. The aircraft was manually flown to more precisely limit of G and allow for aircraft to fluctuate in altitude to limit hurting the airframe. The airspeed was fluctuating rapidly as well as the wind speed and direction. ATC immediately gave us our requested altitude of 260 which allowed for further performance deviations. The aircraft was struck with some lateral G and rolling left and right. Flight controls were responsive however; the MET condition was unsettling during control inputs. Eventually; the turbulence subsided below FL320 and became light. Smooth below FL300.
A319 Captain reported temporary loss of aircraft control due to severe turbulence.