Heat, C San Diego
- When
- July 16, 12:00 PM PST to July 25, 8:30 AM PST
- Where
- C San Diego forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat in California, July 16 to 25, 2002
During this period, daytime maximum temperatures over the desert areas ranged between 104 and 109 degrees Fahrenheit with early morning minimum temperatures ranging between 81 and 92 degrees. One man, separated from his companions on or before July 16, succumbed to heat exhaustion.
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
- 1
- 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.
During this period, daytime maximum temperatures over the desert areas ranged between 104 and 109 degrees Fahrenheit with early morning minimum temperatures ranging between 81 and 92 degrees. One man, separated from his companions on or before July 16, succumbed to heat exhaustion. His body was found the morning of July 25, near the Interstate 8 freeway off ramp to Jacumba at approximately 3200 feet M.S.L..
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 16, 2:15 AM PST, 9 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 2:15 AM PST, 9 hours 45 minutes before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 315 AM PDT TUE JUL 16 2002 .SYNOPSIS...A WEAK UPPER TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BY THURSDAY BRINGING A LOW COOLING TREND...MORE NIGHT AND MORNING COASTAL LOW CLOUDS...AND DECREASING MONSOONAL MOISTURE AND THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. THE FOUR CORNERS HIGH WILL BUILD BACK INTO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DURING THE WEEKEND INTO NEXT WEEK BRINGING A WARMING TREND AND A RETURN OF MONSOONAL MOISTURE AND MOUNTAIN AND DESERT THUNDERSTORMS EARLY NEXT WEEK. .DISCUSSION...A WEAK UPR TROUGH WL MOVE SLOWLY SOUTHEASTWARD INTO SRN CA THRU THU...BRINGING A SLOW COOLING TREND...A LTL DEEPENING OF THE MARINE LYR...AND DECRG MONSOONAL MSTR. THE RDG BUILDS BACK IN FM THE EAST OVR THE WEEKEND INTO NEXT WEEK WITH A WARMING TREND AND WITH A RETURN OF MONSOONAL MSTR BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. IN THE NR TERM...GRADUAL DRYING TREND IN THE NGM MSTR FIELDS APPEARS MORE REASONABLE THAN THE ETA/AVN WHICH WERE INITIALIZED WITH WHAT APPEARS TO BE A SPURIOUS MSTR MAX OVR NRN BAJA. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...MAINLY OVR THE MTNS. WITH DECRG MSTR...MAIN THREAT WL BE WIND...NOT HEAVY RAINFALL...ESPECIALLY ON WED. ITS POSSIBLE THAT THERE MIGHT STILL BE ENOUGH RESIDUAL MSTR FOR A THUNDERSTORM OVR THE HIGHEST TERRAIN...SBD/RIV COUNTY MTNS...BUT WL JUST KP PARTLY CLOUDY IN THE AFTERNOON FOR NOW. MARINE LYR DEPTH IS CURRENTLY AROUND 1500 FT. WITH A WK CSTL EDDY EACH NIGHT AND THE SLIGHT LWRG OF HEIGHTS ASSOCD WITH THE WK UPR TROUGH...THE MARINE LYR SHOULD GRAUDALLY DEEPEN TO AROUND 2000 TO 2500 FT BY THU MORNING. .SAN...NONE. MARTIN
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
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.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat, C San Diego | 2002-07-25 | 21 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
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
- Damaging Wind in Texas, July 16, 2002
- Flash Flood in Wyoming, July 16, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Virginia, July 16, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Lightning Strike in Texas, July 16 to 17, 2002
- Flash Flood in California, July 16, 2002
- Flash Flood in New Mexico, July 16, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Montana, July 16, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Montana, July 16, 2002
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Gulf of Mexico, July 16, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Texas, July 16, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Texas, July 16, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Texas, July 16, 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: 5303616.