California, 2001

Wildfire in California, January 3 to 5, 2001

January 3 to 5, 2001 · NWS SGX · 4 events in 3 counties and zones

Santa Ana winds fanned several brush fires throughout the Inland Empire and San Diego County valleys.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
1
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
4

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.

Santa Ana winds fanned several brush fires throughout the Inland Empire and San Diego County valleys.

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 Jan 3, 9:30 AM PST, 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 3, 9:30 AM PST, 36 minutes before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
930 AM PST WED JAN 3 2001

                             ...SYNOPSIS...
STRONG HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE PLATEAU WILL RESULT IN SANTA ANA WINDS
THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING...DECREASING BY NOON THURSDAY. WELL ABOVE
NORMAL HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS.
SLIGHTLY COOLER WEATHER IS EXPECTED BEGINNING FRIDAY AS ONSHORE FLOW
RETURNS. A LOW PRESSURE TROUGH WILL DEVELOP NEAR THE WEST COAST
EARLY NEXT WEEK TO BRING INCREASING CLOUDS AND FURTHER COOLING.

                            ...DISCUSSION...
CLEARLY THE PROBLEM OF THE DAY IS THE SANTA ANA WINDS...WHICH HAVE
RESULTED IN HIGH TEMPERATURES MORE APPROPRIATE FOR JULY THAN
JANUARY...AND HIGH WINDS IN SOME AREAS.  THE SURFACE HIGH SHOULD
REMAIN FAIRLY STRONG THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON...BEGIN TO WEAKEN SLOWLY
FIRST...THEN RATHER RAPIDLY BREAK DOWN THURSDAY AFTERNOON INTO
FRIDAY.  UNTIL THEN...THE WINDS WILL REMAIN A PROBLEM.

ANOTHER ISSUE TO LOOK AT LATER IS THE UPPER LOW AND SUBTROPICAL
MOISTURE TO OUR SOUTHEAST.  THE PROGS BRING IT NORTH FRIDAY...BUT
THE AMOUNT OF MOISTURE VARIES WITH EACH PROG.

BY NEXT WEEK...THERE SHOULD BE A HUGE CHANGE IN THE WEATHER.  I WILL
GO INTO MORE DETAIL ON THE NEXT ISSUANCE OF THE DISCUSSION.  FOR
NOW...NO UPDATE TO CURRENT FORECASTS.

SAN 000

.SAN...HIGH WIND WARNINGS AND WIND ADVISORIES...SEE LAXNPWSAN.

SMALL

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Riverside

When
January 3, 10:06 AM PST to 11:30 AM PST
Where
Riverside County, 2 mi N of Mira Loma
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
33.744, -115.994 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wildfire, San Bernardino

When
January 3, 10:22 AM PST to 10:50 AM PST
Where
San Bernardino County, 2 mi SW of Fontana
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
34.841, -116.178 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wildfire, Riverside

When
January 3, 11:39 AM PST to January 5, 5:00 PM PST
Where
Riverside County, 5 mi SW of Murrieta
Injuries
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
33.744, -115.994 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wildfire, San Diego

When
January 3, 1:59 PM PST to January 5, 5:00 PM PST
Where
San Diego County, 7 mi N of Fallbrook
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
33.028, -116.770 (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

More

Every storm in California in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 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: 5229045, 5229046, 5229047, 5229048.