California, 2002

Heat in California, July 15, 2002

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

Temperatures of 110 degrees Fahrenheit, inside a condominium in the Coachella Valley, led to the death of one woman and heat exhaustion of another.

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
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  • Floods
  • Wind
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  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
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The toll

Deaths
1
Injuries
1
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.

Temperatures of 110 degrees Fahrenheit, inside a condominium in the Coachella Valley, led to the death of one woman and heat exhaustion of another.

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, 8:00 AM PST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 15, 8:00 AM PST, 4 hours before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
900 AM PDT MON JUL 15 2002

.SYNOPSIS...MONSOON MOISTURE IN THE SOUTHEAST FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING
ANOTHER WARM...HUMID DAY WITH A CHANCE FOR AFTERNOON AND EVENING
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
POSSIBLE AGAIN ON TUESDAY BEFORE A DRIER AIRMASS MOVES IN TOWARD THE
END OF THE WEEK.

.DISCUSSION...THE MORNING SOUNDING WAS NOT MUCH DIFFERENT THAN 24
HOURS AGO WITH A SHALLOW MARINE INVERSION AND AN INVERTED V ABOVE. A
THUNDERSTORM FORMED ABOUT 50 MILES SOUTH OF THE BORDER AROUND
SUNRISE AND DRIFTED NORTHWEST OVER THE COASTAL WATERS BEFORE
DISSIPATING.

DEWPOINTS REMAINED QUITE HIGH IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS THIS
MORNING...AND DAYTIME HEATING WILL LIKELY TRIGGER MORE SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS. UPPER SUPPORT IS NOT ALL THAT GREAT BUT THE MODELS
HINT AT WEAK PVA LATER THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THE EASTERN DESERTS.
THIS SCENARIO HOLDS TRUE ON TUESDAY AS WELL BEFORE THE MIDLEVEL FLOW
STARTS TO TURN MORE SSW WEDNESDAY ADVECTING DRIER AIR INTO THE
SOUTHWEST AND REDUCING OUR CHANCES FOR AFTERNOON CONVECTION.

UPDATE WILL BE ISSUED SHORTLY FOR MOSTLY COSMETIC CHANGES TO THE
MORNING ZONE FORECAST PACKAGE.

.SAN...NONE.

MOEDE

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, C Riverside

When
July 15, 12:00 PM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where
C Riverside forecast zone
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
33.744, -115.994 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Heat, C Riverside2002-07-1577FemalePermanent HomeDirect

What these are

Heat
Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.

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, 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: 5303532.