Lightning, Riverside
- When
- August 13, 8:30 AM PST
- Where
- Riverside County, Murrieta
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 33.744, -115.994 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in California, August 13, 2004
A house in Murrieta was partially burned when lightning from an early morning round of thunderstorms struck the home. The fire damaged the upstairs bedroom and attic.
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
- $50,000
- 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.
A house in Murrieta was partially burned when lightning from an early morning round of thunderstorms struck the home. The fire damaged the upstairs bedroom and attic.
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 Aug 13, 1:30 AM PST, 7 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 13, 1:30 AM PST, 7 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO 230 AM PDT FRI AUG 13 2004 .SYNOPSIS...MONSOONAL FLOW WILL CONTINUE THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS THROUGH SATURDAY...MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOONS. OTHERWISE...THE COOLING TREND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND AS HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WEAKENS. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES. LOW CLOUDS WERE ALONG THE SAN DIEGO/S ORANGE COUNTY COASTS WHERE THE MARINE INVERSION WAS AROUND 1200 FEET...AND PLENTY OF MID-HIGH CLOUDS WERE OVER INLAND AREAS...ESPECIALLY SINCE SOME MID-LEVEL OUTFLOW WAS OCCURRING FROM PREVIOUS CONVECTION OVER AZ/S NV. IN THE MODELS...INSTABILITY/CAPE ARE CERTAINLY STRONG ENOUGH FOR TSTORMS TODAY...BUT HIGH CLOUDS MIGHT SUPPRESS THINGS A BIT. ENOUGH MOISTURE WILL BE AROUND...ESPECIALLY IN THE 700-500 MB RANGE. THE FLASH FLOODING THREAT WILL BE FAIRLY LOW EXCEPT IN THE RECENT BURN AREAS DUE TO A 15-KT WIND FROM THE SOUTH WHICH WILL KEEP THE TSTORMS ON THE MOVE. SATURDAY LOOKS LIKE IT WILL HAVE QUITE A BIT OF MOISTURE...EVEN THOUGH WINDS ARE MORE WESTERLY. SO...THE GRIDS/ZONES HAVE SLIGHT CHANCES OF TSTORMS THEN. GFS HAS MARGINALLY ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR TSTORMS FOR SUNDAY...BUT THE WEST WINDS WILL WORK TO MAKE THINGS DRIER AND MORE STABLE...SO I WILL KEEP SUNDAY DRY FOR NOW. THE MARINE LAYER SHOULD GRADUALLY INCREASE OVER THE WEEKEND AND ALLOW FOR MORE NOCTURNAL PENETRATION OF THE LOW CLOUDS. THE EXTENDED IS RATHER TRICKY SINCE THE RECENT TREND HAS BEEN FOR LESS TROUGHING OFF THE COAST. SO...FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK...THERE WILL BE LITTLE CHANGE IN TEMP AND PROBABLY NO TSTORMS. RIGHT NOW...THE MODELS HAVE THE HIGHEST HEIGHTS AT 500 MB TO OUR SOUTH...BUT THE 500 MB GRADIENTS ARE SO MINIMAL THAT A SMALL CHANGE IN THE 500 MB FLOW COULD BRING A BIG CHANGE WEATHERWISE...ESPECIALLY WITH REGARDS TO TSTORMS. .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && MAXWELL
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 13, 5:30 AM PST, 3 hours before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 630 AM PDT FRI AUG 13 2004 CAZ042-043-048-057-141300- ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS- SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS- SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY AND RIVERSIDE COUNTY VALLEYS-THE INLAND EMPIRE- SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS- 630 AM PDT FRI AUG 13 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR ORANGE COUNTY...THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS AND THE INLAND EMPIRE. .DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT. MOISTURE IN SOUTHERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL CAUSE ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEADLY LIGHTNING AND MAY HAVE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. CAZ050-141300- SAN DIEGO COUNTY VALLEYS- 630 AM PDT FRI AUG 13 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY VALLEYS .DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT. FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 800 PM. MOISTURE IN SOUTHERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL CAUSE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEADLY LIGHTNING AND WILL HAVE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL. HEAVY RAIN COULD CAUSE FLOODING AND MUD SLIDES...ESPECIALLY IN THE RECENTLY BURNED AREAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. CAZ055-056-058-060-061-062-141300- SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- APPLE AND YUCCA VALLEYS- COACHELLA VALLEY- SAN DIEGO COUNTY DESERTS- 630 AM PDT FRI AUG 13 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS OF EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT. FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 800 PM. MOISTURE IN SOUTHERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL CAUSE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS TODAY INTO THIS EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEADLY LIGHTNING AND WILL HAVE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL. HEAVY RAIN COULD CAUSE FLOODING AND MUD SLIDES...ESPECIALLY IN THE RECENTLY BURNED AREAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. MOIST UNSTABLE AIR WILL CONTINUE ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS SATURDAY 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. DRIER SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL DEVELOP EARLY NEXT WEEK. MAXWELL
The radar
The San Diego radar (KNKX), 134 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:27 UTC.
Event by event
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Lightning
- A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Hurricane in Florida, August 13, 2004
- Tornado in North Carolina, August 13, 2004
- High Wind in Florida, August 13, 2004
- High Wind in Florida, August 13, 2004
- Hurricane in Florida, August 13, 2004
- Tropical Storm in Florida, August 13, 2004
- Tropical Storm in Florida, August 13, 2004
- Flash Flood in Arizona, August 13, 2004
- Tornado in Florida, August 13, 2004
- Tornadoes in North Carolina, August 13, 2004
- Hurricane in Florida, August 13, 2004
- Tornadoes in Florida, August 13, 2004
More
Every storm in California in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in California, August 2004
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: 5418554.