California, 2002

Wildfire in California, August 4, 2002

August 4, 2002 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Black bears, rummaging through an unoccupied cabin, knocked over a halogen lamp which started a fire. The fire consumed the cabin and several power lines, and killed one of the bears.

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
$130,000
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.

Black bears, rummaging through an unoccupied cabin, knocked over a halogen lamp which started a fire. The fire consumed the cabin and several power lines, and killed one of the bears.

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 4, 2:20 AM PST, 10 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 4, 2:20 AM PST, 10 hours 40 minutes before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
320 AM PDT SUN AUG 4 2002

.SYNOPSIS...A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE ALONG THE WEST COAST WILL
WEAKEN WITH HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING WESTWARD FROM THE CENTRAL PLAINS
INTO CALIFORNIA DURING THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK. DURING THE
LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK...COASTAL LOW CLOUDS WILL DECREASE IN
COVERAGE WITH WARMING FOR INLAND AREAS.

.DISCUSSION...IN THE SHORTER TERM...MDLS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT IN
KPG THE UPR TROUGH ALG THE W CST THRU MON...THEN SHEARING IT INLAND
ACROSS THE PAC NW TUE AND WED. THRU TUE...MARINE LYR MAY SHRINK
SLIGHTLY FM THE CURRENT DEPTH OF 2000 TO 2500 FT WITH LOW CLOUDS
CONFINED TO THE CST INTO THE LWR CSTL VLYS BY WED.

EXTENDED...MDLS REMAIN IN LESS THAN PERFECT AGREEMENT...BOTH RUN TO
RUN AND MDL TO MDL...IN DETAILS OF WKNG THE UPR TROUGH ALG THE W CST
AND THE WESTWARD BUILDING OF THE CNTRL PLAINS UPR RDG TOWARD THE W
CST DURG THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK. FOR NOW...WL MAKE NO CHANGES
TO THE CURRENT FORECAST OF WARMING FM THE BUILDING RDG...ALG WITH
SOME RETURN OF MONSOONAL MSTR...BUT NOT ENOUGH FOR THUNDERSTORMS.

SAN...NONE.

MARTIN

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
August 4, 1:00 PM PST to 5:00 PM PST
Where
San Bernardino County, Forest Falls
Property damage
$130,000
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

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: 5309892.