Wildfire in California, September 11, 2002

Name: Wildfire in California, September 11, 2002
Start: 2002-09-11T14:45
End: 2002-09-11T19:15
Location: California

September 11, 2002 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A brush fire closed Highway 60 between Theodore Street in Moreno Valley and Interstate 10 in Beaumont. In all, 20 acres were burned.

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 closed Highway 60 between Theodore Street in Moreno Valley and Interstate 10 in Beaumont. In all, 20 acres were burned.

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 Sep 11, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 11, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour 15 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
230 PM PDT WED SEP 11 2002

.SYNOPSIS...A SHALLOW MARINE LAYER WILL RESULT IN AREAS OF NIGHT AND
MORNING COASTAL LOW CLOUDS AND FOG. OTHERWISE...BUILDING HIGH PRESSURE
ALOFT WILL KEEP THE WEATHER FAIR.

.DISCUSSION...THERE WERE PATCHES OF LOW CLOUDS AND DENSE FOG NEAR THE
COAST THIS AM. A FEW CU OVER THE MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON...OTHERWISE
MOSTLY CLEAR. 12Z NKX SOUNDING WAS MORE STABLE AND DRIER THAN 24 HOURS
PREVIOUS. WEAK GRADIENTS WITH ABOUT 3 MB SAN-IPL.

BUILDING RIDGE OVER THE W WILL GRADUALLY INCREASING HEIGHTS INTO SAT.
AT THE SAME TIME...DESERT THERMAL LOW WILL INTENSIFY. SO EXPECT WARMING
IN THE INTERIOR BUT THE SEA BREEZE WILL MODERATE TEMPS NEAR THE COAST.
THE MARINE LAYER WILL REMAIN SHALLOW UNDER THE UPPER HI AND THERE SHOULD
BE SOME DENSE FOG IN THE COASTAL AREAS NIGHTS AND MORNINGS. OTHERWISE...
FAIR IN DRY WLY FLOW ALOFT.

LONGER RANGE PROGS NOT IN THE BEST AGREEMENT ON TIMING BUT GENERALLY
INDICATE UPPER TROUGH MOVING PAST TO THE N EARLY NEXT WEEK FOR DEEPENING
MARINE LAYER AND COOLING. THIS TROUGH WILL BRING BREEZY CONDITIONS TO
THE NRN DESERTS. SLIGHTLY WARMER AGAIN TOWARD THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK...
BUT TOO SMALL OF A CHANGE TO DETAIL IN THE EXTENDED.

.SAN...NONE.

ATKIN

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: September 11, 2:45 PM PST to 7:15 PM PST
Where: Riverside County, Beaumont
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

Every storm in California in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in California, September 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: 5316465.