Wildfire in California, July 13 to 16, 2002

Name: Wildfire in California, July 13 to 16, 2002
Start: 2002-07-13T14:00
End: 2002-07-16T17:00
Location: California

July 13 to 16, 2002 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Named the "Garnet" Fire, it began in the mountains ten miles east of Pine Valley. The fire actively burned down the east slopes toward the desert floor with spotting up to 1/4 mile ahead of the fire.

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: 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.

Named the "Garnet" Fire, it began in the mountains ten miles east of Pine Valley. The fire actively burned down the east slopes toward the desert floor with spotting up to 1/4 mile ahead of the fire. It was contained three days later after 1166 acres had burned. No structures were lost. The cost of fighting the fire was $925,000 and 110 fire fighters were involved.

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 13, 1:30 PM PST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 13, 1:30 PM PST, 30 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
230 PM PDT SAT JUL 13 2002

.SYNOPSIS...MOIST SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE A SLIGHT CHANCE
TO CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS IN THE
MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS THROUGH WEDNESDAY.  NO THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED
THURSDAY AS DRY SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT DEVELOPS TOWARD THE MIDDLE OF NEXT
WEEK.  OTHERWISE...HIGH CLOUDS AT TIMES MOST AREAS...WITH NIGHT AND
MORNING COASTAL LOW CLOUDS AND FOG NEAR THE COAST.

.DISCUSSION...THE MASSIVE UPPER LEVEL HIGH OVER THE GREAT BASIN IS
FINALLY SHOWING SIGNS OF WEAKENING...HOWEVER NOT BEFORE SUPPLYING
MONSTROUS DROPS OF RAIN AT THE FORECAST OFFICE...RESULTING IN NUMEROUS
NOSES PRESSED AGAINST THE WINDOWS IN COMPLETE AWE. RAINFALL HAS BEEN
PRETTY RARE LATELY.

THE WEAKENING UPPER HIGH SHOULD STILL BE ABLE TO SUPPLY SOME CONVECTION
TO THE AREA THROUGH WEDNESDAY...HOWEVER... THERE WILL BE ONLY A SLIGHT
CHANCE OF CONVECTION IN THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS BY THEN.
THIS REDUCTION IN CONVECTION IS PARTIALLY ENABLED BY AN APPROACHING
TROUGH IN THE WESTERLIES.  THE SMART MONEY GOES ON NO CONVECTION AFTER
WEDNESDAY.

AFTERNOON HIGH TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE LOWERING SLOWLY THROUGH THE ENTIRE
PERIOD...PER MRF/ECMWF...BUT NOT THAT FAR FROM NORMAL IN MOST CASES.
THE CURRENT FORECAST WAS SO GOOD...THAT ONLY SOME MINOR ADJUSTMENTS WERE
NEEDED.  THE MAIN CHANGE WAS TO CONFINE THE CONVECTION TO THE SOUTHERN
MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

NOTE...THE ROUTINE 930 AM AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION WILL NO LONGER BE
ISSUED. THE ROUTINE 330 AM...230 PM AND 930 PM DISCUSSIONS WILL CONTINUE
AND NON-ROUTINE DISCUSSIONS WILL BE ISSUED AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.

.SAN...NONE.

SMALL

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 Diego

When: July 13, 2:00 PM PST to July 16, 5:00 PM PST
Where: San Diego County, 10 mi E of Pine Vly
Reported by: FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates: 33.028, -116.770 (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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5303529.