Wildfire, San Diego
- When
- July 12, 6:30 PM PST to 9:00 PM PST
- Where
- San Diego County, Lake Henshaw
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in California, July 12, 2003
An six acre brush fire forced the closure of Highway 79 for several hours. No structures were damaged.
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
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.
An six acre brush fire forced the closure of Highway 79 for several hours. No structures were damaged.
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, 1:30 PM PST, 5 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 12, 1:30 PM PST, 5 hours before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA 230 PM PDT SAT JUL 12 2003 .SYNOPSIS...A SHALLOW MARINE LAYER AND ONSHORE FLOW WILL CONTINUE COASTAL LOW CLOUDS AND FOG IN THE NIGHTS AND MORNINGS...LINGERING NEAR SOME BEACHES INTO THE AFTERNOONS. MOISTURE IN SOUTHERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING PERIODIC CLOUDINESS. OTHERWISE...STRONG HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL KEEP THE WEATHER FAIR WITH HOT DAYS INLAND. THE HIGH WILL WEAKEN A LITTLE NEXT WEEK FOR SLIGHT COOLING. .DISCUSSION...THERE WAS A VERY WEAK EDDY THIS AM. LOW CLOUDS AND FOG WERE MAINLY CONFINED TO THE IMMEDIATE COAST AND EXTENDED JUST LOCALLY INLAND. THE 12Z NKX SOUNDING HAD A STRONG INVERSION BASED BELOW 1000 FT AND WAS MORE UNSTABLE THAN 24 HOURS PREVIOUS. DEBRIS CLOUDS FROM MEX MOISTURE BROUGHT SOME MID AND HI CLOUDS. INCREASING ONSHORE GRADIENTS WITH 6-7 MB SAN-IPL. STRONG HI PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE OVER THE SW THROUGH THE SHORT TERM. A LOW...STRONG INVERSION WILL MAINTAIN NIGHT AND MORNING COASTAL LOW CLOUDS AND FOG AND STRATUS MAY LINGER NEAR SOME OF THE BEACHES INTO THE AFTERNOONS. MOISTURE IN S AND SE FLOW ALOFT WILL REMAIN MOSTLY ABOVE 700 MB FOR PERIODIC MID AND HI CLOUDS. PROGS INDICATE DECREASE IN THE MID LEVEL MOISTURE SUN AND MON WHICH WILL RESULT IN WARMING FOR THE AREAS THAT HAD A LOT OF MID CLOUDS AND HIGHER RH TODAY. THERE WILL BE SOME AFTERNOON CU OVER THE MOUNTAINS BUT PROBABLY NO PRECIP... ALTHOUGH WILL HAVE TO WATCH CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT. OTHERWISE...FAIR WITH HOT DAYS IN THE INLAND AREAS...MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. THE SEA BREEZE WILL MODERATE MAX TEMPS NEAR THE COAST. HIGH ASTRONOMICAL TIDES WILL CONTINUE THE POSSIBILITY OF MINOR TIDAL OVERFLOW THROUGH MON NIGHT. LONGER RANGE PROGS INDICATE THE UPPER HI WILL VERY SLOWLY WEAKEN NEXT WEEK FOR A SLIGHT COOLING TREND. A LITTLE MORE MOISTURE IN SE FLOW ALOFT COULD BRING A BETTER CHANCE OF MOUNTAIN THUNDERSTORM TOWARD THE END OF NEXT WEEK. .SAN...MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT...SEE LAXMWSSGX.
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 12, 6:11 AM PST, 12 hours 19 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.
Event by event
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Heat in California, July 12, 2003
- Tornado in North Carolina, July 12, 2003
- Heat in California, July 12 to 13, 2003
- Damaging Wind in West Virginia, July 12, 2003
- Flash Flood in West Virginia, July 12, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, July 12, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Wind in North Carolina, July 12, 2003
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Maryland, July 12, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Florida, July 12, 2003
- Tornado in North Carolina, July 12, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Oklahoma, July 12, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Florida, July 12, 2003
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5365775.