Wildfire, Riverside
- When
- August 11, 3:00 PM PST to August 13, 5:00 PM PST
- Where
- Riverside County, 4 mi NE of Banning
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 33.744, -115.994 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in California, August 11 to 13, 2002
A brush fire consumed 247 acres in the Mais Canyon area. It was believed to be arson caused.
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.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
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 brush fire consumed 247 acres in the Mais Canyon area. It was believed to be arson caused.
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 11, 1:00 PM PST, 2 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 11, 1:00 PM PST, 2 hours before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 200 PM PDT SUN AUG 11 2002 .SYNOPSIS...STRONG HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO BRING HOT WEATHER THROUGH MIDWEEK. GRADUAL COOLING IS EXPECTED LATE IN THE WEEK AS THE HIGH WEAKENS. A SHALLOW MARINE LAYER AND A WEAK COASTAL EDDY WILL CONTINUE NIGHT AND MORNING COASTAL LOW CLOUDS AND FOG. .DISCUSSION...TEMPERATURES WERE A LITTLE LOWER TODAY THAN YESTERDAY IN MANY AREAS...MAINLY DUE TO AN INCREASE IN MOISTURE FROM A THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX THAT FORMED OVER NW MEXICO LAST NIGHT. DEWPOINTS IN THE MOUNTAINS WERE 10 TO 15 DEGREES HIGHER THAN YESTERDAY. THIS ADDED MOISTURE PRODUCED A FEW CU OVER THE MOUNTAINS BUT WITH LITTLE VERTICAL EXTENT. A LOW LEVEL GULF SURGE PUSHED DEWPOINTS INTO THE UPPER 70S AT IMPERIAL THIS AFTERNOON THAT PUSHED THE HEAT INDEX TO 118. WILL HAVE KEEP AN EYE ON THIS TO SEE IF IT MAKES IT INTO THE COACHELLA VALLEY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO DOMINATE OUR WEATHER THROUGH WEDNESDAY CONTINUING TO BRING HOT...DRY WEATHER TO THE REGION. WITH LITTLE CHANGE IN HTS AND THICKNESSES THROUGH WEDNESDAY RECORD HIGH TEMPS WILL BE POSSIBLE EACH DAY IN SOME OF THE INLAND VALLEYS...MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS...AND THE DESERTS. OCCASIONAL MIDLEVEL MOISTURE WILL ROTATE AROUND THE BOTTOM OF THE RIDGE THROUGH WEDNESDAY...TRACKING ACROSS NORTHWEST MEXICO BUT NOT GETTING CLOSE ENOUGH TO BRING A SIGNIFICANT CHANCE FOR ANY AFTERNOON CONVECTION TO SOCAL. HOTTEST WEATHER LOOKS LIKE IT WILL OCCUR JUST ABOVE THE MARINE LAYER IN THE MTN FOOTHILLS BETWEEN 1500 AND 3000 FT. RELIEF FROM THE HEAT WILL BE IN THE COASTAL ZONES WHERE AN INTERMITTENT COASTAL EDDY WILL KEEP THE MARINE LAYER DEEP ENOUGH FOR COOLING TO EXTEND SEVERAL MILES INLAND. IN THE EXTENDED...THE RIDGE WEAKENS THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY AND LOWER HEIGHTS AND THICKNESSES ALONG WITH A STRONGER ONSHORE FLOW WILL BRING SOME SLIGHTLY COOLER WEATHER LATE IN THE WEEK. SAN...HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR HEAT TODAY...SEE LAXSPSSGX. MOEDE
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Heat in Pennsylvania, August 11 to 20, 2002
- Tornado in North Dakota, August 11, 2002
- Heat in New Jersey, August 11 to 20, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, August 11, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Nebraska, August 11, 2002
- Flash Flood and Hail in Wisconsin, August 11, 2002
- Wildfire in California, August 11 to 15, 2002
- Damaging Wind in South Dakota, August 11, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, August 11 to 12, 2002
- Flooding and Hail in Ohio, August 11, 2002
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kansas, August 11 to 12, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 11, 2002
More
Every storm in California in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, August 2002
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: 5309895.