Wildfire in California, May 12, 2002

Name: Wildfire in California, May 12, 2002
Start: 2002-05-12T14:00
End: 2002-05-12T17:00
Location: California

May 12, 2002 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Brush fire fanned by strong winds, consumed 20 acres before being brought under control. Freight train traffic was halted and residents evacuated.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

Brush fire fanned by strong winds, consumed 20 acres before being brought under control. Freight train traffic was halted and residents evacuated. No structures were damaged and no injuries occurred.

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 May 12, 1:30 PM PST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 12, 1:30 PM PST, 30 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
230 PM PDT SUN MAY 12 2002

.SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT THAT BROUGHT VERY WARM WEATHER
SUNDAY WILL WEAKEN TONIGHT...AND INCREASING ONSHORE FLOW ASSOCIATED
WITH A WEAK LOW PRESSURE TROUGH WILL RESULT IN GRADUAL COOLING
THROUGH MIDWEEK. ANY LOW CLOUDS THAT DEVELOP LATE TONIGHT WILL BE
CONFINED TO THE BEACHES...BUT COASTAL CLOUDS WILL SPREAD FARTHER
INLAND THROUGH WEDNESDAY AS THE MARINE LAYER DEEPENS AND THE ONSHORE
FLOW STRENGTHENS.

.DISCUSSION...OFFSHORE FLOW ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER RIDGE OVER THE
SOUTHWEST SENT TEMPS SOARING INTO THE 90S IN THE INLAND VALLEYS AND
FOOTHILLS THIS AFTERNOON. IT WAS ALSO VERY DRY WITH OFFSHORE FLOW
DROPPING HUMIDITIES INTO THE TEENS THIS AFTERNOON. COASTAL TEMPS
WERE HELD IN CHECK DUE TO A STRONG SEA BREEZE THAT KICKED IN AROUND
18Z.

THE UPPER RIDGE STARTS TO BREAK DOWN TONIGHT AS A SERIES OF
SHORTWAVES ROTATES AROUND THE BASE OF AN EASTERN PACIFIC TROF. 500
MB HTS PEAK NEAR 588 DM THIS EVENING...THEN FALL TO 585 DM MONDAY
AFTERNOON...AND THEN TO 577 DM TUESDAY. MONDAY WILL BE ANOTHER WARM
DAY...ALTHOUGH PROBABLY NOT QUITE AS WARM AS TODAY WEST OF THE MTNS
SINCE THE SEA BREEZE WILL ARRIVE A LITTLE EARLIER. MTN AND DESERT
TEMPS WONT BE AFFECTED TOO MUCH.

THE EAST PAC TROF THAT WILL BE AFFECTING OUR WEATHER MUCH OF THE
WEEK WILL BRING INCREASING NORTHWEST FLOW AROUND PT CONCEPTION
MONDAY NIGHT AND A COASTAL EDDY IS LIKELY TO FORM. THE COMBINED
EFFECTS OF STRONGER ONSHORE GRADIENTS AND THE COASTAL EDDY WILL
DEEPEN THE MARINE LAYER AND SPREAD COASTAL CLOUDS FARTHER INLAND
TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. THIS PATTERN REMAINS UNCHANGED THROUGH
THURSDAY. ON FRIDAY THE TROF WEAKENS AND HTS BEGIN TO INCREASE AHEAD
OF A DEVELOPING WEST COAST RIDGE.

NOT A LOT OF CONFIDENCE IN THE MODELS BEYOND FRIDAY WHEN THE MRF AND
ECMWF FORECAST AN UNUSUALLY STRONG TROF OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. INSTEAD...WILL GO WITH A CLIMATOLOGY FORECAST
AT THIS TIME FOR NEXT WEEKEND AND SEE HOW FUTURE RUNS HANDLE THIS
SYSTEM.

.SAN...NONE.

MOEDE

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, San Diego

When: May 12, 2:00 PM PST to 5:00 PM PST
Where: San Diego County, 6 mi E of Oceanside
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

Every storm in California in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in California, May 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: 5291424.