Named the Bridge fire, it burned 1352 acres before being fully contained. It forced the evacuation of the towns of Fredalba, Smiley Park, Nob Hill, Enchanted Forest, and part of Running Springs, affecting more than 1000 residents.
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.
Named the Bridge fire, it burned 1352 acres before being fully contained. It forced the evacuation of the towns of Fredalba, Smiley Park, Nob Hill, Enchanted Forest, and part of Running Springs, affecting more than 1000 residents. The main highways, 330 and 18, were closed for several days. Property damage was contained to guardrails, power lines, and traffic signs along the highway corridors, in addition to one out building. Cost of fighting the fire were in excess of $2.3 million dollars.
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 5, 1:30 PM PST, 34 minutes earlier.
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA 230 PM PDT FRI SEP 5 2003 .SYNOPSIS...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS UNTIL 700 PM TODAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL END TONIGHT AND THERE WILL BE FEWER SATURDAY. UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE MOVING PAST TO THE NORTH WILL BRING A DEEPER MARINE LAYER AND COOLING EARLY NEXT WEEK. IT WILL BE WARMER AGAIN TOWARD THE SECOND HALF OF NEXT WEEK AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OFF THE COAST. .DISCUSSION...A WARM MORNING AS PRESSURE GRADIENTS WENT OFFSHORE LAST NIGHT AND NO MARINE PRESENCE WAS FELT TODAY. SO MOST AREAS ARE HOTTER THAN YESTERDAY. A VERY MOIST NKX SOUNDING FROM 12Z THIS MORNING...AND TSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED ALREADY...ALTHOUGH RUNNING A LITTLE LATER THAN YESTERDAY. MOSTLY FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS ARE COVERING THE TSTORM PROBLEMS TODAY...BUT A FEW STORMS COULD GET SEVERE. THE MOISTURE BECOMES MORE SHALLOW SAT AND SO FEWER TSTORMS ARE EXPECTED. SUN IS THE FAIR TRANSITION DAY BEFORE AN UPPER TROUGH DROPS INTO THE WEST COAST THAT NIGHT. THIS WILL BRING BACK THE MARINE AIR IN A HURRY. MON AND TUE WILL BE COOL DAYS...AND LOW CLOUDS MAY STRUGGLE TO CLEAR MON IN SOME AREAS NEAR THE COAST. THE TROUGH MOVES INTO THE ROCKIES AND THE UPPER RIDGE REBUILDS SLOWLY FROM THE PACIFIC. THIS WILL BRING A WARMING TREND AND LESS EXTENSIVE COASTAL CLOUDS. THE FLOW ALOFT REMAINS DRY...SO NO CONVECTION AND TSTORMS EXPECTED. SAN...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 7 PM...SEE LAXFFASGX.
CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-061300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 630 AM PDT FRI SEP 5 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS AND THE DESERTS FROM NOON UNTIL 700 PM TODAY. REFER TO LAXFFASGX WGUS66 KSGX FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS SATURDAY AFTERNOON. OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TODAY AND TONIGHT.
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, September 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: 5337471.