Gusty afternoon winds and 120 degree temperatures helped fuel a brush fire that consumed a house, several vehicles, and numerous trees. Four fire fighters were treated for heat exhaustion, another suffered a minor injury.
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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.
Gusty afternoon winds and 120 degree temperatures helped fuel a brush fire that consumed a house, several vehicles, and numerous trees. Four fire fighters were treated for heat exhaustion, another suffered a minor injury.
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 17, 8:30 AM PST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 930 AM PDT MON JUN 17 2002 .SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING FAIR WEATHER WITH WARM TO HOT TEMPERATURES INLAND TODAY. A COASTAL EDDY WILL BRING NIGHT AND MORNING LOW CLOUDS AND FOG TO THE COAST THROUGH TUESDAY... GRADUALLY EXTENDING FURTHER INLAND INTO THE VALLEYS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL COOL SOME WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY AS THE HIGH PRESSURE WEAKENS. THE SUMMER SOLSTICE WILL OCCUR ON FRIDAY...JUNE 21...AT 624 AM PDT. .DISCUSSION...SKIES CLEARED RAPIDLY TO THE COAST THIS MORNING AS CLOUD THICKNESSES WERE ONLY 400-800 FEET EARLIER DESPITE A WEAK EDDY. PRESSURE GRADIENTS WERE MODERATELY ONSHORE AT ABOUT 5-6 MB TO THE DESERTS. THE 12Z NKX SOUNDING CHANGED LITTLE FROM 24 HOURS AGO AS THE INVERSION WAS AROUND 1000 FEET. THUS...EXPECT TEMPS TO BE SIMILAR TO THOSE SEEN SUNDAY...AND ONLY VERY SLIGHT COOLING IS EXPECTED TUE AS THE EDDY WILL CONTINUE TO BE FAIRLY WEAK AND TEMPS ALOFT ONLY SLIP SLIGHTLY. LOCALLY DENSE FOG SHOULD HAPPEN IN THE SAME AREAS TONIGHT THAT HAD IT LAST NIGHT. THE JET STREAM IS FAIRLY ZONAL AND JUST NORTH OF 40 DEG N AS AN UPPER LOW SITS NW OF SEATTLE. THE UPPER HIGH IS PEAKING NOW JUST TO OUR SE AND WILL WEAKEN GRADUALLY THE NEXT FEW DAYS. HOWEVER...WITHOUT ANY REAL KINK IN THE JET STREAM TO THE NORTH...WE WILL SEE ONLY MODEST HEIGHT FALLS TO AROUND 585 THU AM. WITH AN INCREASE IN THE EDDY WED/THU...WE SHOULD SEE TEMP DECREASES W OF THE MTNS...ESPECIALLY IN THE VALLEYS WHICH WILL BE WELL BENEATH THE INVERSION BY THAT TIME. THE DESERTS WILL SEE A VERY SMALL TEMP DECREASE...IF ANY. THE MODELS DIVERGE SOMEWHAT AFTER THU WITH THE ECM HAVING A DEEPENING LOW JUST OFF THE CENT CAL COAST AND THE MRF HAVING JUST A WEAK TROUGH ONLY FROM SAN FRAN N. HEIGHTS ARE AROUND 588 ON BOTH MODELS...SO GENERALLY SEASONABLE WEATHER WILL OCCUR HERE. THE CURRENT FORECAST LOOKS GREAT...SO NO UPDATE WILL BE ISSUED. .SAN...NONE. MAXWELL
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: 5297174.