A weed cutter caused a spark that grew into a 548 acre brush fire between Poppet Flats and Twin Pines. The blaze, fueled by 10 to 15 mph winds, jumped Highway 243, forcing the closure of that road.
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.
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.
The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.
A weed cutter caused a spark that grew into a 548 acre brush fire between Poppet Flats and Twin Pines. The blaze, fueled by 10 to 15 mph winds, jumped Highway 243, forcing the closure of that road. The community of Twin Pines was evacuated. One house was damaged. Cost of fighting the blaze was estimated at $400,000.
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 Jul 11, 8:20 AM PST, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
920 AM PDT WED JUL 11 2001
...SYNOPSIS...
THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK...HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING ALOFT
WILL WARM TEMPERATURES OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. THE MARINE
LAYER AND ONSHORE FLOW WILL CONTINUE NIGHT AND MORNING LOW CLOUDS
AND FOG WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS. OVER THE COMING WEEKEND...AN UPPER
TROUGH WILL MOVE INLAND TO THE NORTH. THIS WILL COOL TEMPERATURES
AND INCREASE THE WIND ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. WEST OF THE
MOUNTAINS A DEEPENING MARINE LAYER WILL MAKE THE LOW CLOUDS SLOWER
TO CLEAR OUT.
...DISCUSSION...
THE ONLY NOTABLE CHANGES THIS MORNING COMPARED TO 24 HOURS AGO WERE
THE MARINE LAYER WAS ABOUT 300 FEET LOWER AND THE MOUNTAINS WERE
ABOUT 5 DEGREES COOLER. THESE TRENDS ARE EXPECTED TO REVERSE DURING
THE NEXT 24-48 HOURS. HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING ALOFT WITH THICKNESSES
INCREASING ABOUT 30 METERS/24 HOURS SHOULD RAISE DAYTIME
TEMPERATURES AROUND 3 DEGREES PER DAY OVER MTNS AND DESERTS THURSDAY
AND FRIDAY. MINIMUM TEMPERATURES MAY WARM 5 TO 8 DEGREES OVER MTNS
AND FOOTHILLS AS THE NORMAL DIURNAL TEMPERATURE SHRINKS FROM
INFLUENCE OF INCREASING HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE FRO THE WSW AND S
CUTTING DOWN ON THE OUTGOING NOCTURNAL RADIATION. DURING THE SAME
TIME PERIOD...SURFACE HIGH BUILDING ALONG THE WEST COAST AHEAD OF
APPROACHING UPPER TROUGH SHOULD YIELD NEAR GALE FORCE NW SURFACE
WINDS ALONG CENTRAL COAST AND OUTER S. CALIFORNIA WATERS. THIS WOULD
GIVE SUPPORT FOR A COASTAL EDDY SPINNING UP AND/OR AT MINIMUM
MAINTAINING THE DEPTH OF THE MARINE LAYER IF NOT INCREASING IT.
PLAN ON ISSUING A 1000 AM UPDATE...TO SHOW SLIGHTLY WARMER
TEMPERATURES AND EARLIER CLEARING TODAY....OVER DESERTS AND MTNS
ADJUST WINDS UPWARD THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. PRESSURE GRADIENT
FROM CRESTS TO DESERT FLOOR STILL ADVERTISED TO BE ABOUT 7 MB AT
12/06Z...THIS HAS BEEN PRODUCING GUSTS TO 30 MPH OVER DESERTS DURING
THE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING AND GUSTS 25-40 MPH DOWN EAST SLOPES OF
MOUNTAINS LATE NIGHT HOURS.
AS FOR THE EXTENDED...THE MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE SIMILAR ON KEEPING
THE MAIN EFFECTS OF THE TROUGH MOVING INLAND NORTH OF THE AREA.
HOWEVER ACROSS SW CALIFORNIA...THE MRF IS ABOUT 60 METERS DEEPER AND
ABOUT 24 HOURS FASTER ON HEIGHT FALLS. AT THIS POINT PREFER
THE ECMWF MODEL. WILL CHECK THE CANADIAN MODEL LATER THIS MORNING TO
SEE WHICH VERSION IT SUPPORTS.
.SAN...NONE.
BALFOURThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 2001
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: 5258020.