2 wildfire, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 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 Aug 10, 12:35 PM PST, 2 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO 135 PM PDT TUE AUG 10 2004 .SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE SOUTHWEST WILL CONTINUE TO BRING HOT WEATHER THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. INCREASING MONSOON MOISTURE WILL BRING A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS TO THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS THROUGH FRIDAY. A PACIFIC TROUGH WILL BRING SLIGHTLY COOLER WEATHER OVER THE WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES. .SHORT TERM...HIGH BASED CUMULUS BEGAN FORMING AROUND 18Z TODAY. THE LOW LEVELS REMAIN FAIRLY DRY WITH DEWPOINTS ONLY IN THE LOW 40S AND LOW 50S IN THE MOUNTAINS. HOWEVER...A MINOR GULF SURGE THIS AFTERNOON RAISED DEWPOINTS INTO THE LOW TO MID 60S IN THE LOWER DESERTS. SOME OF THIS MOISTURE WAS STARTING TO ADVECT INTO THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY MTNS WHERE THE DEWPOINT REACHED 63 AT JULIAN AND 56 AT RANCHITA AT 19Z. AT 20Z ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS FORMED IN MEXICO...ABOUT 25 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CAMPO. THE OVERALL WEATHER PATTERN WONT CHANGE MUCH THIS WEEK WITH A NEARLY STATIONARY UPPER HIGH OVER THE SOUTHWEST. CONTINUED MID LEVEL MOISTURE ADVECTION WILL KEEP THE THREAT FOR AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MTNS AND DESERTS THROUGH FRIDAY. IT ALSO MEANS OUR HOT WEATHER WILL PREVAIL IN ALL AREAS WITH HIGHS ABOVE 100 IN THE INLAND VALLEYS AND FOOTHILLS. COOLEST AREAS WILL BE NEAR THE IMMEDIATE COAST WHERE A SHALLOW MARINE LAYER WILL KEEP TEMPS IN THE 70S...AND AREAS OF DENSE FOG ARE POSSIBLE EACH MORNING. A STRONG 11 DEGREE CELSIUS INVERSION MAY PREVENT A FEW BEACHES FROM CLEARING UNTIL LATE IN THE DAY. .LONG TERM...THE HIGH WEAKENS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY CUTTING OFF THE MIDLEVEL MOISTURE AS THE FLOW ALOFT TURNS MORE WESTERLY. IT WILL ALSO BRING COOLER WEATHER WITH TEMPS CLOSER TO THEIR SEASONAL NORMALS FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && MOEDE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 330 AM PDT TUE AUG 10 2004 CAZ055-056-058-060-061-062-111300- SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- APPLE AND YUCCA VALLEYS- COACHELLA VALLEY- SAN DIEGO COUNTY DESERTS- 330 AM PDT TUE AUG 10 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT. MONSOONAL MOISTURE WILL CAUSE ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON. THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEADLY LIGHTNING AND MAY HAVE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL. LOCAL HEAVY RAIN COULD CAUSE FLOODING AND MUD SLIDES...ESPECIALLY IN THE RECENTLY BURNED AREAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. MOISTURE IN SOUTHERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS IN THE AFTERNOONS WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEADLY LIGHTNING AND MAY HAVE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL. LOCAL HEAVY RAIN COULD CAUSE FLOODING AND MUD SLIDES...ESPECIALLY IN THE RECENTLY BURNED AREAS. ATKIN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning sparked about a dozen fires in and near the San Gorgonio Wilderness. The largest fire, known as the Sugar Fire, burned 107 acres on the south slope of Sugarloaf Mountain before being contained two days after it started.
Lightning sparked off more than 50 small fires in the mountains around Big Bear. All of the fires were less than 1/4 acre in size.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in California, August 2004
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: 5418565, 5418566.