Wildfire, San Diego
- When
- June 17, 6:00 PM PST to June 18, 9:00 PM PST
- Where
- San Diego County, 3 mi S of Imperial Beach
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in California, June 17 to 18, 2002
Sixty acres were consumed in a slow moving fire in the Tijuana River Valley.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- 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.
Sixty acres were consumed in a slow moving fire in the Tijuana River Valley.
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 Jun 17, 1:30 PM PST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 17, 1:30 PM PST, 4 hours 30 minutes before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 230 PM PDT MON JUN 17 2002 .SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP THE WEATHER FAIR THE REST OF THIS WEEK. 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 SLIGHTLY. THE SUMMER SOLSTICE WILL OCCUR ON FRIDAY...JUNE 21...AT 624 AM PDT. .DISCUSSION...SKIES CLEARED RAPIDLY TO THE COAST THIS MORNING BUT REFORMED AT A FEW COASTAL SPOTS. PRESSURE GRADIENTS WERE MODERATELY ONSHORE AT ABOUT 7-8 MB TO THE DESERTS. THE 12Z NKX SOUNDING CHANGED LITTLE FROM 24 HOURS PREVIOUS AS THE INVERSION WAS AROUND 1000 FEET...AND ACARS SOUNDINGS FROM THIS AFTERNOON SHOWED LITTLE CHANGE IN THE INVERSION HEIGHT. A WEAK COASTAL EDDY WAS IMPACTING WINDS AT SAN. LOCALLY DENSE FOG COULD OCCUR LATE TONIGHT IN SIMILAR AREAS THAT HAD IT LAST NIGHT. THE EDDY...COMBINED WITH SLIGHT TEMP DECREASES AT 850 MB TUE SHOULD RESULT IN SLIGHT COOLING THEN. 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 AVN HAVING JUST A WEAK TROUGH ONLY FROM SAN FRAN N. AVN IS FAIRLY CONSISTENT FROM RUN-TO-RUN...SO THAT IS THE MODEL OF CHOICE...SO SOME WARMING SHOULD OCCUR OVER THE WEEKEND...ESPECIALLY GIVEN THAT HEIGHTS ARE AROUND 588 REGARDLESS OF THE MODEL. .SAN...NONE. MAXWELL
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Wildfire in California, June 17, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Iowa, June 17 to 18, 2002
- Hail in Nebraska, June 17 to 18, 2002
- Wildfire in California, June 17, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Hail in New York, June 17, 2002
- Hail and Lightning Strike in Michigan, June 17, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Colorado, June 17, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, June 17, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Oklahoma, June 17, 2002
- Hail in Kansas, June 17, 2002
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Lake Erie, June 17, 2002
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Lake Erie, June 17, 2002
More
Every storm in California in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, June 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: 5297178.