Wildfire in California, May 2 to 3, 2002

Name: Wildfire in California, May 2 to 3, 2002
Start: 2002-05-02T13:50
End: 2002-05-03T17:00
Location: California

May 2 to 3, 2002 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A wildfire consumed 15 acres in Sycamore Canyon County Park. The area had not burned in several years and conditions were described as "tinder dry".

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.

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Heat and drought
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Fire, smoke and dust
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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 wildfire consumed 15 acres in Sycamore Canyon County Park. The area had not burned in several years and conditions were described as "tinder dry".

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 2, 1:00 PM PST, 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 2, 1:00 PM PST, 50 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
200 PM PDT THU MAY 2 2002

.SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE TROUGH OVER THE LOWER
COLORADO RIVER VALLEY WILL WEAKEN AND MOVE EAST OVERNIGHT...LEAVING
DRY WEATHER AND GRADUAL WARMING ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THIS
WEEKEND.

.DISCUSSION...SKIES WERE CLEAR THIS AFTERNOON EXCEPT FOR SCATTERED
CLOUDS OVER THE MOUNTAINS. TEMPS WERE SEVERAL DEGREES WARMER THAN
YESTERDAY IN MOST AREAS. THIS WARMING TREND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH
THE WEEKEND AS HEIGHTS INCREASE WITH THE DEPARTURE OF THE UPPER LOW
CURRENTLY OVER THE SOUTHWEST. THE EXCEPTION WILL BE NEAR THE COAST
WHERE THE COOLING INFLUENCES OF THE ONSHORE BREEZE WILL KEEP TEMPS
IN CHECK.

THE INVERSION WILL LOWER AND STRENGTHEN AS THE AIRMASS WARMS THROUGH
THE WEEKEND RESULTING IN MARINE LAYER CLOUDS EACH MORNING...BUT THEY
SHOULD BE CONFINED MOSTLY TO THE COASTAL SECTIONS. IN THE MTNS AND
DESERTS IT WILL BE SUNNY AND WARM EACH AFTERNOON...AND WINDS WONT BE
MUCH OF A FACTOR WITH THE WEAK FLOW ALOFT.

IN THE EXTENDED...THE LONG RANGE AVN AND ECMWF MODELS DEVELOP A TROF
OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST MONDAY. MOST OF ITS ENERGY WILL STAY WELL
NORTH...BUT THE SOUTHERN END OF THE TROF WILL SWEEP ACROSS
CALIFORNIA TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY FOR BREEZY AND SLIGHTLY COOLER
WEATHER FOR THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK.

.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 2, 1:50 PM PST to May 3, 5:00 PM PST
Where: San Diego County, Poway
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: 5291422.