Wildfire, Del Norte
- When
- July 13, 12:00 PM PST to July 31, 12:00 PM PST
- Where
- Del Norte County, 25 mi NE of Crescent City
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 41.745, -123.958 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in California, July 13 to 31, 2002
The Sour Biscuit Fire started by lightning in southwest Oregon and spread into California. By the end of the July, 19,513 acres had been burned in California - primarily in the Smith River National Recreation Area of Six Rivers National Forest.
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 EKA wrote it up.
The Sour Biscuit Fire started by lightning in southwest Oregon and spread into California. By the end of the July, 19,513 acres had been burned in California - primarily in the Smith River National Recreation Area of Six Rivers National Forest. The fire continued into August. No injuries were reported or structures damaged in July.
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 Eureka, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 13, 8:20 AM PST, 3 hours 40 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 13, 8:20 AM PST, 3 hours 40 minutes before
NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EUREKA CA 920 AM PDT SAT JUL 13 2002 HIGH BASED TSTMS OVER COASTAL WATERS OF NORCAL ENDED EARLY THIS MORNING...WITH SATL FOG IMAGERY SHOWING SOME MID LEVEL CLOUD JUST ALONG THE COAST...WITH BKN-OVC CIGS NEAR 300 FT. WV IMAGERY SHOWS A COUPLE OF UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVES NEAR 130W THIS MORNING. THE FIRST IS LOCATED NEAR 132W/4N...WITH A SECOND WEAKER WAVE NEAR 128W/35N. THE NORTHERN...AND MORE ENERGETIC....FEATURE WILL CROSS 130W AT 0Z THIS AFTERNOON AND LIFT NEWD INTO THE PAC NW TONIGHT...REMAINING WELL NORTH OF NORCAL. THE SOUTHERN FEATURE WILL CROSS NORCAL THIS EVENING. FOR TODAY EXPECT ISOLATED HIGH-BASED CONVECTION ACROSS THE WESTERN PORTION OF CWA IN THE AFTERNOON...MAINLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF TRINITY COUNTY. A SOUTHERN MOISTURE STREAM MOVING AROUND THE GREAT BASIN HIGH WILL PROVIDE PWS IN THE .90 TO .94 RANGE TODAY. HOWEVER INSTABILITY WILL BE MINIMAL THIS AFTERNOON WITH ETA MODEL LIS DROPPING TO -1 ACROSS THE FAR EASTERN EDGE OF TRINITY COUNTY...AND REMAINING NEAR +4 IN CAZ003/76. CURRENT ZONES HAVE SLIGHT CHC SH/TS FOR CAZOO3/4 AND WILL LEAVE THIS FOR NOW...WITH MOISTURE IN SOUTHERLY FLOW AND DAYTIME HEATING UNDER PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES...BELIEVE AFTERNOON CONVECTION IS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION OVER HIGHER TERRAIN. IN ADDITION...APPROACHING WEAK WAVE ALONG 35N MAY PROVIDE SOME ADDITIONAL LIFT FOR THIS EVENING. FOR NOW WILL UPDATE TO REMOVE POPS FROM CAZ001...OTHERWISE WILL WATCH AFTERNOON CONVECTIVE SITUATION AND PROVIDE UPDATES AS NEEDED. CILIBERTI. .EKA...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CAPE MENDOCINO TO PT ARENA 20 TO 60 NM.
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 Montana, July 13, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Idaho, July 13, 2002
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Arizona, July 13, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, July 13, 2002
- Flash Flood and Hail in Texas, July 13 to 14, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Colorado, July 13, 2002
- Rip Current in Alabama, July 13, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Nevada, July 13, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Texas, July 13, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, July 13 to 14, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, July 13, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Idaho, July 13, 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: 5304504.