Wildfire, San Diego
- When
- March 21, 12:00 PM PST to March 22, 6:00 AM PST
- Where
- San Diego County, Camp Pendleton
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in California, March 21 to 22, 2002
A brush fire that began from a live artillery exercise, burned 2400 acres before full containment. There were no injuries, and no structures were damaged.
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.
A brush fire that began from a live artillery exercise, burned 2400 acres before full containment. There were no injuries, and no structures were damaged. Visibility at the Camp Pendleton airport was briefly down to 1 1/4 miles in smoke.
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 Mar 21, 8:00 AM PST, 4 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 21, 8:00 AM PST, 4 hours before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 800 AM PST THU MAR 21 2002 .SYNOPSIS...A BROAD TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC WILL MOVE ONSHORE ALONG THE WEST COAST SATURDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BEGIN TO COOL AT THE COAST TODAY WITH GREATER COOLING SPREADING INLAND FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. EXTENSIVE COASTAL LOW CLOUDS WILL RETURN FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY WITH PATCHY DRIZZLE OR LIGHT SHOWERS POSSIBLE WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS...WITH GUSTY WINDS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. FAIR WITH A WARMING TREND SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY AS WEAK HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. .DISCUSSION...12Z MODELS ARE IN FAIR GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE S/WV TROUGH OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC MOVING ONSHORE ON SATURDAY. ETA FOLLOWS THE TREND OF THE EARLIER AVN/MRF SOLUTIONS IN TAKING THE MAIN PORTION OF THIS S/WV INLAND ACROSS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. MRF SUGGESTS A LITTLE QPF...AMOUNTS UNDER A TENTH OF AN IN...MOVING THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING WHILE THE 12Z ETA SUGGEST THE MOISTURE WILL BE A LITTLE FURTHER NORTH. EXPECT SOME PCPN INTO THE NORTHERN PORTIONS AND ALONG THE COAST MAINLY DUE TO THE FAIRLY DEEP MARINE LAYER. SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS A STREAM OF MID AND HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE EXTENDING SOUTHWEST FROM CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTO THE TROPICAL PACIFIC WEST OF 140W. SOME OF THIS MOISTURE EXTENDS OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. EXPECT THE MID AND HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS TO THICKEN UP AS THE TROUGH APPROACHES AND THE RIDGE BEGINS TO FLATTEN. MRF SUGGESTS THE S/WV WILL BEGIN TO LIFT OUT ON SUNDAY WITH ANOTHER S/WV MOVING INTO THE COAST AROUND WEDNESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. CURRENT FORECAST PACKAGE LOOKS GOOD SO NO UPDATES ARE PLANNED AT THIS TIME. .SAN...NONE. HORTON
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
- High Wind in Pennsylvania, March 21, 2002
- Strong Wind in Virginia, March 21 to 22, 2002
- High Wind in New Jersey, March 21 to 22, 2002
- Strong Wind in Maryland, March 21 to 22, 2002
- Heavy Snow and High Wind in Pennsylvania, March 21, 2002
- Strong Wind in West Virginia, March 21 to 22, 2002
- High Wind in Maryland, March 21, 2002
- Flooding in Indiana, March 21 to 31, 2002
- High Wind in Delaware, March 21 to 22, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Michigan, March 21, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Pennsylvania, March 21, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Michigan, March 21, 2002
More
Every storm in California in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, March 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: 5281728.