Wildfire in California, July 17, 2002

Name: Wildfire in California, July 17, 2002
Start: 2002-07-17T11:30
End: 2002-07-17T16:00
Location: California

July 17, 2002 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A ten acre brush fire near Interstate 15, jumped across the freeway, tying up traffic for most of the afternoon. One firefighter was treated for 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
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.

A ten acre brush fire near Interstate 15, jumped across the freeway, tying up traffic for most of the afternoon. One firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion.

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 17, 8:15 AM PST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 17, 8:15 AM PST, 3 hours 15 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
915 AM PDT WED JUL 17 2002

.SYNOPSIS...MONSOONAL MOISTURE IS GRADUALLY DECREASING ACROSS
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA...BUT THERE IS STILL A CHANCE FOR AFTERNOON
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MOUNTAINS TODAY. THURSDAY AND FRIDAY SHOULD BE
DRY AS A WEAK LOW PRESSURE TROUGH DEVELOPS ALONG THE COAST. AS THE
UPPER TROUGH WEAKENS OVER THE WEEKEND...HIGH PRESSURE WILL REBUILD
OVER THE SOUTHWEST AND HOT WEATHER WILL RETURN NEXT WEEK.

.DISCUSSION...12Z SOUNDING SHOWED THE MARINE LAYER DEPTH NEAR 2300
FEET...1000 FEET DEEPER THAN TUESDAY MORNING. WINDS BETWEEN 600 MB
AND 800 MB REMAIN EAST-SOUTHEAST...AND ENOUGH RESIDUAL MOISTURE
REMAINS IN PLACE TO TRIGGER ISOLATED CONVECTION OVER THE MTNS THIS
AFTERNOON. TODAY WILL BE THE LAST DAY FOR ANY CONVECTION AS DRIER
SOUTHWEST FLOW ASSOCIATED WITH A WEAK UPPER TROUGH MOVES ACROSS CA.
THIS TROF WILL BRING SLIGHTLY COOLER WEATHER AND A DEEPER MARINE
LAYER THROUGH THE WEEKEND. EARLY NEXT WEEK THE HOT WEATHER WILL
RETURN AS AN UPPER RIDGE REBUILDS OVER THE SOUTHWEST.

.SAN...NONE.

MOEDE

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 17, 11:30 AM PST, 0 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO, CA
1230 PM PDT WED JUL 17 2002

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

0400 PM    LUCERNE VALLEY            CA   FLASH FLOODS
07/16/02   SAN BERNARDINO                 *** 0 DEAD, 0 INJ ***
                                          WASHES DRAINING SAN
                                          BERNADINO MOUNTAINS CROSSED
                                          HWY 247 IN SEVERAL
                                          LOCATIONS. ROAD ERRODED
                                          NEAR INTERSECTION OF HWY 18
                                          AND CAMP ROCK ROAD.

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, Riverside

When: July 17, 11:30 AM PST to 4:00 PM PST
Where: Riverside County, Temecula
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.744, -115.994 (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: 5303539.