Wildfire in California, September 15, 2001

Name: Wildfire in California, September 15, 2001
Start: 2001-09-15T11:30
End: 2001-09-15T13:00
Location: California

September 15, 2001 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A two acre brush fire caused minor damage to vacant buildings near the San Bernardino International Airport.

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: $10,000
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 two acre brush fire caused minor damage to vacant buildings near the San Bernardino International Airport.

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 Sep 15, 8:30 AM PST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 15, 8:30 AM PST, 3 hours before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
930 AM PDT SAT SEP 15 2001

                             ...SYNOPSIS...

RESIDUAL MOISTURE WILL CAUSE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND
DESERTS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEADLY LIGHTNING
AND MAY HAVE HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL. DRIER WEST FLOW
ALOFT WILL DEVELOP BY MONDAY. A SHALLOW MARINE LAYER AND WEAK ONSHORE
FLOW WILL CONTINUE AREAS OF NIGHT AND MORNING COASTAL LOW CLOUDS AND
FOG...GRADUALLY BECOMING MORE EXTENSIVE NEXT WEEK. OTHERWISE...FAIR.

                            ...DISCUSSION...

LOW CLOUDS AND LOCAL DENSE FOG WERE INTO SAN COASTAL AREAS AND LOCALLY
INLAND AND INTO PARTS OF ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS THIS AM...OTHERWISE
CLEAR. STRATUS QUITE EXTENSIVE OFFSHORE. 12Z NKX SOUNDING HAD A STRONG
LOW INVERSION. A LITTLE DRIER AND MORE STABLE THAN 24 HOURS PREVIOUS
WITH 1 INCH PRECIPITABLE WATER. DRY WLY WINDS ALOFT. GRADIENTS TRENDING
ONSHORE WITH 3-4 MB SAN-IPL.

SINCE THERE WAS ONLY ISOLATED HEAVY RAIN YESTERDAY AND IT LOOKS A LITTLE
DRIER AND MORE STABLE TODAY...WILL PROBABLY CANCEL FFA. HOWEVER...WILL
WAIT FOR AVN BEFORE FINAL DECISION SINCE NKX SOUNDING DID NOT MAKE IN
INTO THE ETA/NGM BUT WAS IN TIME FOR THE AVN. UPPER HI REMAINS OVER NW
MEX WITH WEAK TROUGH MOVING PAST TO OUR N LATE SUNDAY INTO MON. THIS
WILL GENERALLY BRING A DRIER W FLOW ALOFT. HOWEVER...ENOUGH RESIDUAL
MOISTURE FOR AFTERNOON/EVE MOUNTAIN/DESERT THUNDERSTORMS TODAY...
DECEASING SUNDAY. TROUGH MOVING PAST TO THE NORTH AND GRADUALLY
INCREASING ONSHORE GRADIENTS WILL SLOWLY DEEPEN MARINE LAYER FOR MORE
INLAND PENETRATION OF STRATUS AND DENSE FOG SLOWLY SHIFTING FARTHER
INLAND. SLIGHTLY COOLER MOST AREAS SUNDAY INTO MON...ESPECIALLY W OF
MOUNTAINS...THEN NOT MUCH CHANGE TUE.

LONGER RANGE PROGS INDICATE DRY W FLOW ALOFT WITH ONLY MINOR HEIGHT
CHANGES. THIS WILL CONTINUE NIGHT/MORNING COASTAL LOW CLOUDS AND NEAR TO
SLIGHTLY BELOW SEASONAL TEMPS.

.SAN...FLASH FLOOD WATCH CAZ055-056-058-061-062 UNTIL 8 PM PDT.

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: September 15, 11:30 AM PST to 1:00 PM PST
Where: San Bernardino County, San Bernardino Arpt
Property damage: $10,000
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

Every storm in California in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in California, September 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: 5269142.