California, 2001

Wildfire in California, May 11, 2001

May 11, 2001 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The first major brush fire of the season spread along the Mojave River bed. Approximately 25 acres were burned.

Where it happened

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
1
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.

The first major brush fire of the season spread along the Mojave River bed. Approximately 25 acres were burned. 150 students from a nearby school were evacuated. One firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion. The fire came close to one house and building, but no damage was reported.

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 May 11, 1:30 PM PST, 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 11, 1:30 PM PST, 28 minutes before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
230 PM PDT FRI MAY 11 2001

                             ...SYNOPSIS...

WEAK UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA
SATURDAY BRINGING A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS TO THE MOUNTAINS. ONSHORE
FLOW AND THE MARINE LAYER WILL CONTINUE NIGHT AND MORNING LOW CLOUDS AND
FOG WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS. OTHERWISE...FAIR THROUGH NEXT WEEK.

                            ...DISCUSSION...

LOW CLOUDS/FOG WERE INTO ALL COASTAL AREAS...MOST OF SAN INLAND VALLEYS
AND PART OF INLAND EMPIRE THIS AM...WITH ONLY PARTIAL CLEARING NEAR
COAST. AFTERNOON CU OVER NEAR AND OVER MOUNTAINS...OTHERWISE CLEAR.
STRATUS REMAINS QUITE EXTENSIVE OFFSHORE. MID/HI CLOUDS OFFSHORE
ASSOCIATED WITH WEAK UPPER LOW TO OUR SW. PARTIAL 12Z NKX SOUNDING HAD
A STRONG INVERSION BASED NEAR 1600 FT. ONSHORE GRADIENTS WITH 4-5 MB
SAN-IPL.

UPPER LOW TO OUR SW OPENS AND IS PICKED UP BY APPROACHING E PAC TROUGH
AND THIS BROAD TROUGH MOVES ONSHORE SUNDAY. A SERIES OF WEAK VORT MAXIMA
ROTATE N ALONG THE E SIDE OF THIS TROUGH. GRADUALLY DECREASING HEIGHTS/
THICKNESS/850 MB TEMPS LOCALLY...WITH THE USUAL DIURNAL FLUCTUATIONS.
SIMILAR ONSHORE GRADIENTS CONTINUE AND INTENSIFY TO DESERT THERMAL LOW
EACH AFTERNOON. RELATIVELY MINOR CHANGES EXPECTED IN MARINE LAYER. S
FLOW ALOFT SAT SHOULD BRING IN SOME MID/HI LEVEL MOISTURE FOR PARTLY
CLOUDY SKIES. WEAK REMNANT VORT MAX ALSO SKIRTS PAST SAT AND THIS COULD
BE ENOUGH TO KICK OF A FEW HI BASED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE MOUNTAINS...
MAINLY IN THE AFTERNOON. LITTLE...IF ANY...PRECIP SHOULD REACH THE
GROUND. FLOW ALOFT TURNS DRIER SW SUNDAY. MINOR TEMP CHANGES COAST. IT
WAS QUITE WARM IN THE MOUNTAINS TODAY BUT DECREASING HEIGHTS AND MORE
CLOUD COVER SHOULD BRING GOOD COOLING SAT WITH SLIGHTLY MORE COOLING
SUNDAY IN MOUNTAINS/DESERTS.

LONGER RANGE PROGS DIFFER ON DETAILS BUT GENERALLY INDICATE WEAK FLOW
ALOFT WITH CONTINUED ONSHORE FLOW FOR LITTLE CHANGE AND NEAR SEASONAL
WEATHER. COULD BE SOME COOLING TOWARD THE END OF THE NEXT WEEK FROM AN
UPPER TROUGH.

SAN 0000

.SAN...NONE.

ATKIN

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, San Bernardino

When
May 11, 1:58 PM PST to 7:00 PM PST
Where
San Bernardino County, Apple Vly
Injuries
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
34.841, -116.178 (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, May 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: 5243333.