The third day of temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, led to 9 people being admitted to the hospital for heat exhaustion. A smog alert was also in effect due to the hot stagnant air over the area.
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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.
The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.
The third day of temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, led to 9 people being admitted to the hospital for heat exhaustion. A smog alert was also in effect due to the hot stagnant air over the area.
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 8, 2:10 AM PST, 9 hours 50 minutes earlier.
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 310 AM PDT MON JUL 8 2002 .SYNOPSIS...BUILDING HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE SOUTHWEST WILL BRING A WARMING TREND TO INLAND AREAS EARLY THIS WEEK. A COASTAL EDDY WILL CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING WITH NIGHT AND MORNING LOW CLOUDS LINGERING NEAR SOME BEACHES EACH AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN COOLER NEAR THE COAST...BUT MAY WARM SOME THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK. MONSOONAL MOISTURE WILL ARRIVE BY WEDNESDAY BRINGING A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS TO THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS WITH CHANCES A LITTLE GREATER BY THE WEEKEND. .DISCUSSION...UPR UPR WL CONTINUE TO BUILD WITH THE CNTR SHIFTING SLOWLY NORTHWARD INTO CNTRL NV FOR WED AND THU...THEN SHIFTING EASTWARD INTO NORTHEAST UT FOR SAT INTO MON. THE AVN BRINGS THE INITIAL SURGE OF MONSOONAL MSTR...SUCH AS IT IS...INTO SRN CA TUE NIGHT. THIS SHOULD PROVIDE MSTR FOR AT LEAST SOME CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS FOR WED AND THU OVR THE MTNS...THOUGH MSTR WL BE LIMITED AND SUBSIDENCE AND WARM AIR AT MID LVLS WL LIMIT THE INSTABILITY AND DECR CHANCES FOR CONVECTION SOMEWHAT. BY THE WEEKEND...THE UPR RDG BEGINS TO SHIFT EASTWARD AND WKN A LTL. AS THIS OCCURS...THE FRI THRU SUN PD WL BE MORE FAVORABLE FOR AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS OVR THE MTNS AND DESERTS. INLAND TEMPERATURES WL CONTINUE TO WARM TODAY AND TUE...THEN DECR SLIGHTLY FOR WED INTO THE WEEKEND AS THE MONSOONAL MSTR TAKES A FEW DEGREES OFF THE AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES...BUT ADDS AS MUCH OR MORE TO THE AFTERNOON HEAT INDEX VALUES. AREAS CLOSER TO THE COAST WL BE SLOWER TO WARM AS THE ETA AND AVN FORECAST THE COASTAL EDDY TO CONTINUE INTO WED MORNING. ON WED...IF THERE IS SUFFICIENT WESTWARD PUSH OF THE MONSOONAL MSTR...THE MONSOONAL AIR MASS MAY FINALLY REPLACE THE MARINE AIR MASS CLOSER TO THE COAST. THIS WOULD ALLOW FOR GREATER WARMING FOR AREAS CLOSE TO THE COAST...BUT IT APPEARS THIS WL NOT HAPPEN UNTIL WED AT THE SOONEST. ..THE ROUTINE 930 AM AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION WILL NO LONGER BE ISSUED. THE ROUTINE 330 AM...230 PM AND 930 PM DISCUSSIONS WILL CONTINUE AND NON-ROUTINE DISCUSSIONS WILL BE ISSUED AS CONDITIONS WARRANT. .SAN...HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...SEE LAXSPSSGX. MARTIN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 2002
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: 5303536.