A fire broke out in a church under construction. Gusty winds caused the flames to ignite the brush and quickly burn 850 acres before the fire could be contained.
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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.
A fire broke out in a church under construction. Gusty winds caused the flames to ignite the brush and quickly burn 850 acres before the fire could be contained. Residents of the Sedco Hills subdivision were evacuated as a precaution. In addition to the main church building, two sheds were also destroyed.
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 3, 8:45 AM PST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA 945 AM PDT THU JUL 3 2003 .SYNOPSIS...A SHALLOW MARINE LAYER AND ONSHORE FLOW WILL CAUSE PATCHY NIGHT AND MORNING COASTAL LOW CLOUDS AND FOG. OTHERWISE...STRONG HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL KEEP THE WEATHER FAIR WITH HOT DAYS INLAND. A LITTLE COOLER TOWARD THE END OF NEXT WEEK AS THE HIGH WEAKENS. .DISCUSSION...THERE WAS JUST A SMALL AREAS OF STRATUS NEAR THE S SAN COAST THIS AM...OTHERWISE CLEAR. THE 12Z NKX SOUNDING HAD A STRONG INVERSION BASED NEAR THE SURFACE. ONSHORE GRADIENTS WITH ABOUT 6 MB SAN-IPL. UPDATED COASTAL ZONES. STRONG UPPER HI WILL REMAIN OVER THE SW THROUGH THE SHORT TERM. THERE WILL BE A GENERAL AND GRADUAL INCREASING IN LOCAL HEIGHTS...THICKNESS AND 850 MB TEMPS INTO SAT AND THEN NOT MUCH CHANGE SUN. STRATUS SHOULD REMAIN LIMITED AND CONFINED TO THE IMMEDIATE COAST UNDER A STRONG... LOW INVERSION. HOT INLAND AND COULD BREAK SOME RECORDS. THE SEA BREEZE TO THE DESERTS THERMAL LOW WILL MODERATE MAX TEMPS NEAR THE COAST. THIS WILL ALSO CAUSE LOCALLY BREEZY WINDS THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS IN THE AFTERNOONS AND EVENINGS. WE WILL PROBABLY GET SOME CU OVER THE MOUNTAINS EACH AFTERNOON BUT MOISTURE LOOKS TOO LIMITED FOR AND PRECIP. LONGER RANGE PROGS INDICATE A FAIRLY STRONG AND SOMEWHAT BROADER UPPER HI CONTINUING FOR RELATIVELY MINOR CHANGES EARLY NEXT WEEK. AN UPPER TROUGH MOVING PAST TO THE N SHOULD WEAKEN THE HI AND BRING A DEEPENING MARINE LAYER AND A LITTLE COOLER TOWARD THE END OF NEXT WEEK. NO SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE FOR MOUNTAIN THUNDERSTORMS INDICATED AT THIS TIME. .SAN...NONE. ATKIN
CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-041300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 600 AM PDT THU JUL 3 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NEAR RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE POSSIBLE IN SOME INLAND AREAS ON FRIDAY...OTHERWISE NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. MARTIN
CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-041200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 1150 AM PDT THU JUL 3 2003 ...HOT DAYS IN THE INLAND AREAS OF EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA THROUGH THE INDEPENDENCE DAY WEEKEND... STRONG HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL CONTINUE HOT DAYS INLAND IN SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA OVER THE INDEPENDENCE DAY WEEKEND. THE WARMER INLAND VALLEYS WILL HAVE HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE MID 90S TO NEAR 105 DEGREES. THE MOUNTAINS WILL BE IN THE MID 80S TO MID 90S. HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE SOUTHERN DESERTS WILL RANGE FROM ABOUT 108 TO 116 DEGREES WHILE THE NORTHERN DESERTS WILL REACH NEAR 105 DEGREES. HUMIDITIES WILL REMAIN RELATIVELY LOW SO THE HEAT INDEX IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW HEAT WARNING LEVELS. HOWEVER...PEOPLE SHOULD LIMIT OUTDOOR ACTIVITY DURING THE HOTTEST PART OF THE DAY...DRINK PLENTY OF NON ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES...AND WEAR LOOSE FITTING...LIGHT COLORED CLOTHING. NEVER LEAVE CHILDREN OR PETS IN ENCLOSED AUTOMOBILES. THE WEATHER WILL BE SLIGHTLY COOLER EARLY NEXT WEEK AS THE HIGH WEAKENS. ATKIN
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: 5365759.