California, 2002

Wildfire in California, October 2, 2002

October 2, 2002 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A brush fire in the Santa Ana River bottom burned 10 acres before being brought under control.

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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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 in the Santa Ana River bottom burned 10 acres before being brought under control.

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 Oct 2, 8:15 AM PST, 2 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 2, 8:15 AM PST, 2 hours 25 minutes before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
915 AM PDT WED OCT 2 2002

.SYNOPSIS...ISOLATED SHOWERS OVER THE SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE
COUNTY MOUNTAINS THIS MORNING WITH SNOW ABOVE 6500 FEET. HIGH
PRESSURE ALOFT WILL INCREASE OVER THE AREA TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY. A
WEAK UPPER LEVEL WEATHER DISTURBANCE WILL WEAKEN HIGH PRESSURE
FRIDAY. AN OFFSHORE FLOW WITH A NORTHEAST FLOW ALOFT WILL BEGIN TO
DEVELOP SATURDAY. THE OFFSHORE FLOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY AND
THEN WEAKEN TUESDAY. AN ONSHORE FLOW WILL DEVELOP TUESDAY AFTERNOON
THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

.DISCUSSION...UPDATE FOR SNOW SHOWERS OVR SAN BERNARDINO AND RIV
MTNS THIS AM. SOME LOW CLOUDS STILL ROAMING AROUND THIS AM BUT NOT
EXPECTING ANY TONITE AS UPPER LEVEL LOW MOVES OUT. WILL STILL GET
SOME CONVECTIVE CLOUDS TODAY AS MARINE LAYER STILL ABOUT 6000 FT
DEEP. HIGH PRES ALOFT MOVES OVER SOCAL TODAY AND MUCH MORE ON THU.
WEAK VORT MAX CARVES OUT THE BROAD TROF AND DROPS HIGH PRES ALOFT
OVER THE AREA ON FRI. HIGH PRES ALOFT INCREASES AGAIN OVER SOCAL
DURING THE WEEKEND AS SFC AND UPPER LEVEL FLOW GOES OFSHR. NE FLOW
CONTINUES THRU MON...THEN WEAKENS TUE. FLOW GOES ONSHORE TUE PM THRU
WED. GUSTY NE WINDS POSSIBLE DURING THE WEEKEND...STARTING OUT IN
THE MTNS AND INLAND EMPIRE SAT AND ELSEWHERE MAINLY INLAND SUN AND
MON. NE FLOW WILL BACK OFF MON PM WITH ONSHR FLOW BY TUE PM. TEMPS
UP A BIT TODAY THEN MUCH MORE THU WITH SLIGHT COOLING FRI. THEN
COMBO OF OFSHR AND HIGH PRES ALOFT WILL WARM IT UP DURING THE
WEEKEND.

.SAN...NONE.

WHITLOW

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, Riverside

When
October 2, 10:40 AM PST to 4:00 PM PST
Where
Riverside County, 5 mi NE of (Riv)riverside Arpt
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
33.744, -115.994 (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

More

Every storm in California in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, October 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: 5318879.