Named the "Blue Cut Fire", it was started by arsonist and rapidly consumed 6864 acres in a six day period due to hot dry windy conditions. Interstate 15 and Highway 138 were closed as 3 miles of highway signs and infrastructure burned and visibility dropped to less than 1/4 mile in smoke.
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.
Named the "Blue Cut Fire", it was started by arsonist and rapidly consumed 6864 acres in a six day period due to hot dry windy conditions. Interstate 15 and Highway 138 were closed as 3 miles of highway signs and infrastructure burned and visibility dropped to less than 1/4 mile in smoke. Cost of fighting the fire was $4.4 million. Dense acrid smoke from the fire also filled the Apple Valley area prompting Air Quality Advisories to be issued. Residents of Oak Hills and Summit Valley were forced to evacuate. One structure was lost. Three fire fighters suffered first and second degree burns and smoke inhalation. They had to deploy emergency fire shelters after a 25 foot wall of flames suddenly shifted towards them and engulfed their fire engine.
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 Jun 16, 1:00 PM PST, 25 minutes earlier.
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 200 PM PDT SUN JUN 16 2002 .SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO BRING CLEAR WEATHER WITH WARM TO HOT DAYS INLAND FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. AREAS OF NIGHT AND MORNING LOW CLOUDS AND FOG WILL CONTINUE OVER THE COASTAL AREAS. AS THE HIGH WEAKENS...GRADUAL COOLING AND MORE WIDESPREAD LOW CLOUDS AND FOG WILL DEVELOP WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS BY MIDWEEK. THE SUMMER SOLSTICE WILL OCCUR ON FRIDAY...JUNE 21...AT 624 AM PDT. .DISCUSSION...ANOTHER CLEAR DRY ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING NEARLY ALL OF OUR CWFA. THE STRATUS/FOG THAT WAS ALONG THE COAST EARLIER THIS MORNING HAS DISSIPATED. THE STRATUS/FOG THAT WAS OFF THE COAST HAS RETREATED SOUTHWARD OFF THE COAST OF NORTHERN BAJA BUT IT SHOULD RETURN...AGAIN...LATER THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. THE WEAK EDDY THAT WAS EVIDENT SOUTHEAST OF SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND APPEARS TO HAVE DRIFTED WESTWARD AND IS WEST OF THE ISLAND AT THIS TIME BASED ON THE SOUTHWEST WIND REPORTED AT THE ASOS AT KNUC. 12Z MODELS ARE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT MAINTAINING THE RIDGE OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THROUGH 24 HOURS THEN BEGINNING TO FLATTEN THE RIDGE BETWEEN 24 AND 48 HOURS AS A MINOR S/WV TROUGH MOVES INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. THIS FLATTENING SHOULD ALLOW THE MARINE LAYER TO DEEPEN UP A LITTLE MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY ALLOWING THE STRATUS/FOG TO MOVE A LITTLE FURTHER INLAND. THE S/WV TROUGH SHOULD ALSO HELP BRING BREEZY CONDITIONS TO THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS ON TUESDAY. THE 12Z MESO ETA SUGGESTS THE EDDY WILL BEGIN TO STRENGTHEN TONIGHT WHICH WILL CAUSE SOME DEEPENING OF THE MARINE LAYER. MEDIUM RANGE MODELS CONTINUE TO ADVERTISE A LITTLE MORE TROUGHINESS ALONG THE COAST DURING THE LATTER PART OF THE WEEK AS THE RIDGE SHIFTS EASTWARD. HOWEVER...SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REMAINS UNDER A DRY SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT THROUGH THE PERIOD. THE MAIN IMPACT OF THE TROUGH WILL BE FURTHER DEEPENING OF THE MARINE LAYER FOR FURTHER COOLING WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS AND BREEZY CONDITIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. OTHERWISE CONTINUED DRY THROUGH THE PERIOD. .SAN...NONE. HORTON
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: 5297170.