The "Canyon Fire" was started by an arsonist. It grew rapidly, consuming 300 acres in the first 15 minutes.
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.
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.
The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.
The "Canyon Fire" was started by an arsonist. It grew rapidly, consuming 300 acres in the first 15 minutes. It eventually grew to 4300 acres before it was contained. One residence and five out buildings were destroyed. The injuries were from heat exhaustion. Highway 243 was closed for about 24 hours during the initial stages of the fire. About 200 residents were ordered to evacuate. Favorable winds and increasing humidity kept the fire from reaching the dead timber stands to the east. Cost of fighting the fire was estimated at $2.9 million.
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 25, 7:00 AM PST, 5 hours 27 minutes earlier.
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA 800 AM PDT FRI JUL 25 2003 .SYNOPSIS...THE MARINE LAYER AND ONSHORE FLOW WILL CONTINUE COASTAL LOW CLOUDS AND FOG DURING THE NIGHT AND MORNING THROUGH THE WEEKEND. MONSOONAL MOISTURE CENTERED TO THE EAST WILL BRING A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TO THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS THE NEXT FEW DAYS. .DISCUSSION...AN UPDATE TO THE FORECAST WAS MADE TO REFLECT THAT SHOWERS AND TSTORMS WILL NOT BE CONFINED TO THE AFTERNOON TODAY. SOME RADAR ECHOES WERE NOTED IN MTN AND NORTHERN DESERT AREAS THIS MORNING...ALTHOUGH PRECIP MAY NOT BE REACHING THE GROUND YET. THE REST OF THIS DISCUSSION IS FROM THE EARLY MORNING. THU EVENING ACARS SOUNDINGS SHOWED THE BASE OF THE MARINE INVERSION AROUND 1500 FT WITH THE TOP NR 2000 FT. THE MESOETA DECREASES THIS DEPTH A COUPLE OF HUNDRED FEET A DAY EACH OF THE NEXT TWO DAYS. SOME DEEPENING COULD OCCUR EARLY NEXT WEEK. HOWEVER...BY THEN...AN INFLUX ON MONSOONAL FROM THE SOUTHEAST MAY KP CSTL LOW CLOUDS MORE ERRATIC. FOR TODAY...POPS HAVE BEEN INCREASED SOME IN THE MTNS AND DESERTS... MORE IN LINE WITH THE HIGHER VALUES IN THE ETA MOS THAN THE AVN MOS. WORKSTATION ETA QPF OVR THE MTNS AND ADJ HIGH DESERT AREAS THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING IS ENOUGH TO BE OF CONCERN AND IS THE MOST SEEN FM THIS MDL SO FAR THIS SUMMER. IT WL BE INTERESTING TO SEE THE 12Z NKX SOUNDING AS WELL AS UPSTREAM SOUNDINGS OVR AZ AND SRN NV. THE DAY SHIFT MAY WANT KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THIS. MDLS SHOW A LTL DRYING FOR SAT/SUN AND HAVE MTN/DESERT POPS A LTL LWR ON THOSE DAYS. SUNDAY WL LIKELY BE THE WARMEST DAY OF THE NEXT FEW AS HIGH PRESSURE IS STRONGEST OVR THE AREA ON THAT DAY. GFS CONTINUES TO SHOW A DEEP SWATH OF MSTR MOVG ACROSS THE AREA FM THE EAST LATE SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY. CLOUDS HAVE BEEN INCRD WITH CHANCE POPS FOR MOST AREAS INCLUDING AREAS W OF THE MTNS. .SAN...NONE. MARTIN/MM
CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-261300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 600 AM PDT FRI JUL 25 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TODAY IN THE MOUNTAIN AND DESERT AREAS AND A SMALL POSSIBILITY OF FLASH FLOODING ASSOCIATED WITH HEAVIER RAINFALL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE MAINLY EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING IN THE MOUNTAIN AND DESERT AREAS. MM
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 2003
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: 5365833.