Flash Flood in California, July 15, 2002

Name: Flash Flood in California, July 15, 2002
Start: 2002-07-15T15:45
End: 2002-07-15T17:45
Location: California

July 15, 2002 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

6 inches of rain in 60 minutes, from thunderstorms over the wilderness area of the Sawtooth Mountains in east San Diego County, flooded Storm Canyon Wash, Canebrake Wash, Vallecito Creek, Bow Willow Creek, Carrizo Creek, and several unnamed and normally dry washes. These in turn washed over County Road S2 in several locations.

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.

Heavy showers, 1.6 inches of rain in 60 minutes, from thunderstorms over the wilderness area of the Sawtooth Mountains in east San Diego County, flooded Storm Canyon Wash, Canebrake Wash, Vallecito Creek, Bow Willow Creek, Carrizo Creek, and several unnamed and normally dry washes. These in turn washed over County Road S2 in several locations. Standing water was still present 24 hours later in the Agua Caliente Springs area.

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 15, 1:30 PM PST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 15, 1:30 PM PST, 2 hours 15 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
230 PM PDT MON JUL 15 2002

.SYNOPSIS...MONSOON FLOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TOMORROW RESULTING IN
ANOTHER CHANCE FOR MOUNTAIN THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY AFTERNOON. ON
WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...DRY SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL BRING COOLER
WEATHER AND LOWER HUMIDITIES. IT WILL TURN WARMER OVER THE WEEKEND
AS HIGH PRESSURE REBUILDS OVER THE SOUTHWEST.

.DISCUSSION...SCATTERED PULSE THUNDERSTORMS FORMED OVER THE
MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON...BUT THE WINDS ALOFT WERE QUITE LIGHT AND
THE RAIN SHAFT PRETTY MUCH FELL ON THE UPDRAFT. RAIN AMOUNTS WERE
QUITE LIGHT IN MOST AREAS AS MOST OF THE PRECIP EVAPORATED IN THE
DRY MID LAYERS.

TUESDAY WILL BE A TRANSITION DAY ACROSS SOCAL THE MOIST SSE
MONSOON FLOW SHIFTS TO A DRIER SSW FLOW. MOISTURE WILL LINGER LONG
ENOUGH TO TRIGGER MORE SCATTERED AFTERNOON MOUNTAINS THUNDERSTORMS
TUESDAY. ON WEDNESDAY THE RIDGE AXIS SHIFTS EAST AND SW FLOW AHEAD
OF A LOW PRESSURE TROF OFF THE WEST COAST WILL BRING DRIER AIR AND
LOWER HUMIDITIES INTO SOCAL. LOWER HTS AND A STRONGER ONSHORE FLOW
WILL ALSO RESULT IN SLIGHTLY COOLER MIDWEEK.

IN THE EXTENDED...WARMER WEATHER WILL RETURN AS HIGH PRESSURE
REBUILDS WESTWARD ACROSS THE DESERT SOUTHWEST.

.SAN...NONE.

MOEDE

The radar

The San Diego radar (KNKX), 28 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:44 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, San Diego

When: July 15, 3:45 PM PST to 5:45 PM PST
Where: San Diego County, 3 mi E of Mt Laguna Afs
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
Coordinates: 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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: 5303531.