A wild fire that began from a spark that came from a firefighting training class on the Arrowhead Springs Resort, burned for 6 days before it was brought under control Three fire fighters were injured, three storage buildings were destroyed, the main hotel building's suffered smoke damage, and 2500 acres were burned. The cost of fighting the fire was placed at $4 million.
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.
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.
A wild fire that began from a spark that came from a firefighting training class on the Arrowhead Springs Resort, burned for 6 days before it was brought under control Three fire fighters were injured, three storage buildings were destroyed, the main hotel building's suffered smoke damage, and 2500 acres were burned. The cost of fighting the fire was placed at $4 million.
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 May 31, 8:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 930 PM PDT FRI MAY 31 2002 .SYNOPSIS...UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE OUT OF THE REGION EARLY SATURDAY AND FAIR SEASONAL WEATHER WILL RETURN. THE MARINE LAYER WILL DEEPEN SUNDAY BRINGING MORE COASTAL CLOUDS NIGHTS AND MORNINGS WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH MONDAY. WARMER WEATHER IS EXPECTED TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS. .DISCUSSION...UPPER LOW CENTER ALMOST DIRECTLY OVERHEAD SPINNING MAIN BAND OF CLOUDS OUT OF THE REGION AND A SMALL WISP OF CIRRUS THROUGH THE REGION THIS EVE. THE LOW SO WEAK AND THE INVERSION IS STRONG SO STRATUS DECK BOTHERED VERY LITTLE. CSTL LOW CLOUDS SURGING ONSHORE EARLIER BUT SLOWED DOWN. EXPECT SOME VALLEY LOCATIONS TO GET LOW CLOUDS LATE. IMPRESSIVE TSTORMS IN SIERRA AND TEHACHAPI BUT NONE CLOSER. UPDATED ZONES TO REMOVE POPS AND SOME CLOUDS. BACK TO SEASONAL WX SAT. UPPER LOW MOVES NE BUT IS FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER WEAK SHORTWAVE THROUGH CENTRAL CA. THIS WILL ENHANCE MARINE LAYER FOR SUN INTO MON...BUT STILL PLENTY OF SUNSHINE. RIDGE BUILDS TUE-THU FOR SHALLOW MARINE LAYER BUT STRONGER INVERSION. THIS MAY KEEP CLOUDS AT BEACHES ALL DAY. ON WED WEAK OFFSHORE FLOW DEVELOPS AT SFC AND ALOFT...IT LOOKS HOT ESP INLAND. .SAN...NONE. MM
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. 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, June 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: 5297168.