Wildfire, San Bernardino
- When
- July 10, 1:00 PM PST to 3:00 PM PST
- Where
- San Bernardino County, Colton
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 34.841, -116.178 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in California, July 10, 2002
Three acres of brush burned.
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.
Three acres of brush burned.
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 Jul 10, 2:30 AM PST, 10 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 10, 2:30 AM PST, 10 hours 30 minutes before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 330 AM PDT WED JUL 10 2002 .SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED OVER THE GREAT BASIN WILL KEEP INLAND TEMPERATURES HOT THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND BRING AN INCREASING FLOW OF MONSOONAL MOISTURE INTO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ALONG WITH MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. A FEW OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD MOVE WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH FRIDAY. IT WILL REMAIN COOLER AT THE BEACHES WITH PATCHY NIGHT AND MORNING LOW CLOUDS AND FOG. .DISCUSSION...LARGE UPR RDG TO REMAIN CNTRD OVR THE GREAT BASIN THRU THE EXTENDED WITH ELY FLOW BRINGING MONSOONAL MSTR INTO SRN CA. MONSOON...INTITIAL WESTWARD PUSH OF MONSOONAL MSTR HAS OCCURRED OVERNIGHT ON SCHEDULE. THERE WAS ENOUGH MID LVL MSTR FOR A FEW THUNDERSTORMS AROUND MIDNIGHT THAT TRACKED ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN THIRD OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY PRODUCED GUSTY WINDS...BUT LITTLE IF ANY RAINFALL. 00Z NKX SOUNDING SHOWED MOISTENING IN A SHALLOW LAYER NR 500 MB. UPSTREAM SOUNDINGS AT YUM/PHX/TUS SHOWED MSTR IN THE 700-500 MB LYR. MONSOONAL MSTR SHOULD GRADUALLY INCR OVR SW CA THRU FRI...THEN MINOR DAY TO DAY CHANGES THRU THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. WITH LIMITED MSTR AND A DEEP DRY SUBCLOUD LYR...THE MAIN IMPACT OF THUNDERSTORMS TODAY WOULD BE DRY LIGHTNING AND DOWNBURST WINDS. WITH ELY FLOW...SOME THUNDERSTORMS COULD MOVE W OF THE MTNS THRU FRI. AS MSTR INCRS...SOME RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE FM THE THUNDERSTORMS. HOWEVER...PWS DONT INCR APPRECIABLY THRU THE EXTENDED...IMPLYING THAT THE MSTR WL MAINLY REMAIN IN THE MID LVLS AND NOT EXTEND INTO THE LWR LVLS. THIS WOULD HELP TO LIMIT RAINFALL AND WITH SUFFICIENT MID LVL FLOW TO KEEP THE THUNDERSTORMS MOVG...THE POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING WOULDNT APPEAR TO BE ALL THAT GFEAT...AT LEAST THRU THE WEEKEND. AS FOR SHORTWAVES IN THE NR TERM...ONE TRACKS ACROSS NRN BAJA THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. THIS COULD HELP TO ENCHANCE THUNDERSTORMS OVR SAN COUNTY. ANOTHER SHORTWAVE IS PROGGED TO MOVE FM NR LAS LATE THIS AFTERNOON TO NR LAX BY THU MORNING. IF THIS SHORTWAVE MATERIALIZES...THIS COULD HELP TO GENERATE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT OVR NRN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. THE DAY SHIFT MAY WANT TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THIS. HEAT...TEMPERATURES WL COOL INLAND A LTL THE NEXT TWO DAYS...BUT WL REMAIN NR RECORD LVLS TODAY AND THU...MAINLY IN THE MTNS. A LTL MORE COOLING MAY OCCUR EARLY NEXT WEEK AS THE UPR RDG WEAKENS A LTL AND THE CNTR ASSUMES THE FAVORED FOUR CORNERS LOCATION FOR SRN CA MONSOONAL THUNDERSTORMS. COASTAL LOW CLOUDS...LOW CLOUDS AND FOG WL EXTEND LCLLY ONSHR NR THE CST THE NEXT FEW NIGHTS...BUT INCRG MONSOONAL MSTR WL LIKELY PROVIDE DISRUPTION TO THE WIDESPREAD UNIFORM COVERAGE OF THE PAST FEW DAYS. .SAN...SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SEE LAXSPSSGX. MARTIN
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
- Damaging Winds in Iowa, July 10, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Minnesota, July 10, 2002
- Tornado and Damaging Wind in Kentucky, July 10, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, July 10, 2002
- Flash Flood in South Dakota, July 10, 2002
- Flash Flood in Iowa, July 10 to 11, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Missouri, July 10, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Missouri, July 10, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, July 10, 2002
- Blizzard in California, July 10, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, July 10, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, July 10, 2002
More
Every storm in California in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 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: 5303537.