California, 2003

Heat in California, July 12 to 13, 2003

July 12 to 13, 2003 · NWS SGX · 2 events in 1 county or zone

On Saturday, July 10, four separate groups of hikers in the Cedar Falls area, 10 miles east of Ramona, where overcome by heat exhaustion. On Sunday July 11, another two hikers were overcome by heat exhaustion there as well as by the Lake Poway dam.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
14
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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.

On Saturday, July 10, four separate groups of hikers in the Cedar Falls area, 10 miles east of Ramona, where overcome by heat exhaustion. On Sunday July 11, another two hikers were overcome by heat exhaustion there as well as by the Lake Poway dam.

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 Jul 12, 2:30 AM PST, 8 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 12, 2:30 AM PST, 8 hours 30 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 12, 6:11 AM PST, 4 hours 49 minutes before
CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-131300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
600 AM PDT SAT JUL 12 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA.

.DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIMES.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, San Diego T X W

When
July 12, 11:00 AM PST to 2:30 PM PST
Where
San Diego T X W forecast zone
Injuries
11 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, San Diego T X W

When
July 13, 11:00 AM PST to 12:24 PM PST
Where
San Diego T X W forecast zone
Injuries
3 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heat
Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 2003

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5365772, 5365773.