Wildfire in California, August 26, 2001

Name: Wildfire in California, August 26, 2001
Start: 2001-08-26T14:23
End: 2001-08-26T17:00
Location: California

August 26, 2001 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A ten acre brush fire along Interstate 215 and Watkins drive burned to the freeway shoulder and caused traffic to back up.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.

A ten acre brush fire along Interstate 215 and Watkins drive burned to the freeway shoulder and caused traffic to back up.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS San Diego, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 26, 1:05 PM PST, 1 hour 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 26, 1:05 PM PST, 1 hour 18 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
205 PM PDT SUN AUG 26 2001

                             ...SYNOPSIS...
HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY...THEN IT WILL
GRADUALLY WEAKEN FOR A FEW DAYS. THEREFORE...TEMPERATURES PEAKING
TODAY AND MONDAY WILL LOWER A FEW DEGREES EACH DAY STARTING TUESDAY.
A STRONG MARINE INVERSION WILL CONTINUE NIGHT AND MORNING LOW CLOUDS
AND FOG NEAR THE COAST...LINGERING AT THE BEACHES DURING THE
AFTERNOONS.

                            ...DISCUSSION...
LOW CLOUDS AND FOG PATTERN WAS SIMILAR TODAY TO THAT ON
SATURDAY...THOUGH DENSE FOG WAS MORE COMMON THIS MORNING. THUS...DUE
MOSTLY TO THE STRONG INVERSION...AROUND 12-13 DEG C ON THE PT LOMA
PROFILER...THE BEACHES STAYED MOSTLY CLOUDY.

IN GENERAL...HEIGHTS AND TEMPS ALOFT ARE HIGHEST TODAY AND MONDAY.
HEIGHTS START COMING DOWN A BIT TUESDAY...THOUGH THE 12Z MSO 850 MB
TEMPS CHANGE LITTLE. WHAT WILL PROVIDE SOME COOLING TUESDAY...AT
LEAST WEST OF THE MTNS...WILL BE A STRONGER EDDY AS THE LOW-LEVEL
NORTH FLOW INCREASES OFF THE CENTRAL CAL COAST. THEN...SOME
TROUGHING OFF N PARTS OF THE PAC NW WILL WEAKEN THE HIGH JUST A BIT
FOR SOME COOLING INLAND WED. SINCE THE 850 MB TEMPS SHOULD DROP SOME
WED...WE SHOULD HAVE A WEAKER INVERSION...SO CLEARING SHOULD START
TO IMPROVE AT THE BEACHES. AFTER THAT...IT LOOKS LIKE WE WILL BE IN
A PERSISTENCE PATTERN WITH ONSHORE SURFACE FLOW BUT FAIRLY WEAK
UPPER-LEVEL FLOW AND JUST ENOUGH TROUGHING TO THE NORTH TO KEEP THE
HIGH FROM EXPANDING TOO MUCH. SINCE THE E-W AXIS OF THE HIGH WILL
NOT DRIFT NORTH OF HERE...AND NO VIGOROUS EAST FLOW CAN DEVELOP OVER
NW MEXICO...WE SHOULD KEEP THE MONSOON AWAY. THE DEVELOPING TROPICAL
SYSTEM SE OF THE TIP OF BAJA SHOULD...AS A RESULT OF THE HIGH...STAY
WELL TO THE SOUTH.

.SAN...NONE.

MAXWELL

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 26, 12:52 PM PST, 1 hour 31 minutes before

CAZ055-056-058-060>062-262058-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
152 PM PDT SUN AUG 26 2001

PLEASE IGNORE THE PREVIOUS SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...NONE WAS INTENDED
TO BE SENT.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Riverside

When: August 26, 2:23 PM PST to 5:00 PM PST
Where: Riverside County, Riverside
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.744, -115.994 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Wildfire: A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in California, August 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5263072.