Name: Wildfire in California, July 16, 2002
Start: 2002-07-16T14:00
End: 2002-07-16T16:30
Location: California

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

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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.

A 30 acre brush fire spread throughout Talbert Regional Park.

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, 1:30 PM PST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 1:30 PM PST, 30 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
230 PM PDT TUE JUL 16 2002

.SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVING SOUTHEAST TOWARD SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA WILL RESULT IN A SLOW COOLING TREND ALL AREAS FOR THE NEXT
FEW DAYS.  DECREASING MONSOONAL MOISTURE AND THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE
MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS IS ALSO EXPECTED. THE UPPER LEVEL HIGH WILL BUILD
BACK INTO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARLY NEXT WEEK BRINGING A WARMING
TREND...A RETURN OF MONSOONAL MOISTURE...AND MOUNTAIN AND DESERT
THUNDERSTORMS EARLY NEXT WEEK.

.DISCUSSION...THE WATER VAPOR CHART IS SHOWING GOOD DRYING AS THE
SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW PUSHES EAST OVER THE AREA.  HOWEVER...BOTH THE NGM
AND AVN HAVE THE APPROACHING TROUGH SERVE AS A KICKER FOR A
WEAK...NEARLY INVISIBLE WAVE OFF THE COAST.  THE RESULT IS A TEMPORARY
INCREASE IN MID LEVEL MOISTURE WEDNESDAY...POINTING TOWARD THUNDERSTORMS
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.  CANNOT JUMP ON THE BANDWAGON WITH BOTH FEET...
HOWEVER...I WILL PLACE ONE FOOT ON THE BANDWAGON...AND LOWER THE POPS TO
20 PERCENT.

NO SIGNIFICANT MONSOONAL MOISTURE AND NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE
EXPECTED THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.  THE FLOW SHIFTS BACK TO THE MONSOONAL
DIRECTION ON MONDAY...AND CONTINUES AT LEAST INTO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT
WEEK.  THE PROGS ARE ALSO LEANING TOWARD HOT IN THE INLAND VALLEYS...
MOUNTAINS...AND DESERTS AGAIN AS THE HIGH BUILDS EARLY NEXT WEEK.
BOTTOM LINE...BY THIS TIME NEXT WEEK THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BE IN FULL
SWING BY THIS TIME NEXT WEEK IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS.

.SAN...NONE.

SMALL

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 16, 12:15 PM PST, 1 hour 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO, CA
115 PM PDT TUE JUL 16 2002

TIME(PDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0445 PM    20 SE BORREGO SPRINGS     CA   FLASH FLOODS
07/15/02   SAN DIEGO                      *** 0 DEAD, 0 INJ ***
                                          FLASH FLOODING OF MANY
                                          WASHES IN AUGA CALIENTE
                                          AREA REPORTED. ANZA BORREGO
                                          PARK RANGER MEASURED 1.35
                                          INCHES RAIN IN ABOUT ONE
                                          HOUR. WATER STILL PONDING
                                          IN AREAS A DAY LATER.

DK

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, Orange

When: July 16, 2:00 PM PST to 4:30 PM PST
Where: Orange County, Costa Mesa
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.677, -117.776 (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

More

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: 5303609.