Named the Mataguay Fire, it consumed 8867 acres just east of Lake Henshaw and destroyed two residences and two outbuildings. There were seven injuries to firefighters.
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 Mataguay Fire, it consumed 8867 acres just east of Lake Henshaw and destroyed two residences and two outbuildings. There were seven injuries to firefighters. the cost of fighting the fire was $1.8 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 13, 8:45 AM PST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO 945 AM PDT TUE JUL 13 2004 .SYNOPSIS...MONSOONAL MOISTURE WILL BRING INCREASING CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS THE NEXT FEW AFTERNOONS....ESPECIALLY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. THUNDERSTORMS COULD DRIFT WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS...MAINLY WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY. MONSOONAL MOISTURE IS EXPECTED TO DECREASE DURING THE WEEKEND WITH DECREASING CHANCES OF AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS. HOT WEATHER WILL CONTINUE FOR INLAND AREAS THROUGH THE WEEKEND...WHILE NOCTURNAL LOW CLOUDS AND FOG WILL BE RESTRICTED TO NEAR THE COAST. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES. LOCALLY DENSE FOG OCCURRED EARLY THIS MORNING ON THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY MESAS. LOW CLOUDS WERE STILL OCCURRING NEAR THE BEACHES...AND GIVEN THE 10 DEG C INVERSION STRENGTH...THE LOW CLOUDS MAY LINGER A FEW MORE HOURS LOCALLY. EXPECT A SIMILAR 1000-FT OR SO INVERSION HEIGHT TONIGHT...SO MORE PATCHES OF DENSE FOG WILL BE POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT ON THE MESAS. TSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE THE NEXT FEW DAYS DUE TO MOIST SOUTHEAST FLOW. THE GULF SURGE IS IN MOTION WITH THE YUMA RADAR PROFILE SHOWING S-SE FLOW OF ABOUT 20 KNOTS UP TO 4000 FEET. THE INSTABILITY/CAPE/MOISTURE IN THE 700-500 MB WILL BE INCREASING TODAY...BUT BEST VALUES OCCUR WED/THU. DUE TO SE FLOW ALOFT...SOME OF THE TSTORMS WILL DRIFT INTO THE VALLEYS...AND POSSIBLY FURTHER W IF THE EASTERLY WAVE...NOW OVER THE BIG BEND AREA OF TEXAS...IS STRONG THU. HOWEVER...THE STRONG VORT MAX SHOWN ON THE GFS WAS A RESULT OF CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK LATE WED...BUT WE COULD STILL GET AN EASTERLY WAVE CONNECTED TO THE DECAYING TD THAT WILL BE DRIFTING W OF BAJA. EXPECT AT LEAST A MODERATE RISK OF FLASH FLOODING WED/THU OVER THE MTNS AND MOST DESERT AREAS...ESPECIALLY IN THE APPLE VALLEY...WHICH IS OFTEN THE RECIPIENT OF TSTORMS DRIFTING OFF OF THE SBD MTNS WHEN THERE IS SE FLOW ALOFT. SE FLOW CONTINUES FRI...SO MORE TSTORMS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE MTNS/DESERTS WITH A FEW POSSIBLY DRIFTING INTO THE INLAND VALLEYS. THE UPPER TROUGH OFF THE PAC NW WILL DRIFT A BIT SE OVER THE WEEKEND AND TURN OUR FLOW MORE TOWARDS THE SW AND KEEP THE TSTORM ACTIVITY ALONG AND E OF THE MTNS. A GRADUAL COOLING TREND WILL OCCUR W OF THE MTNS DUE TO STRENGTHENING ONSHORE FLOW OVER THE WEEKEND. .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SEE LAXSPSSGX. && MAXWELL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 620 AM PDT TUE JUL 13 2004 CAZ042-043-141300- ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS- SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTS- 620 AM PDT TUE JUL 13 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT PATCHY DENSE FOG THIS MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. CAZ048-050-141300- SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTY VALLEYS-THE INLAND EMPIRE- SAN DIEGO COUNTY VALLEYS- 620 AM PDT TUE JUL 13 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE WEST FROM THE MOUNTAINS INTO THE VALLEYS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY DURING THE AFTERNOONS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS AND GUSTY WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS. CAZ055-056-058-141300- SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- 620 AM PDT TUE JUL 13 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR WITH GUSTY WINDS AND LIGHTNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY INCREASING MONSOONAL MOISTURE WILL BRING A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE MOUNTAINS DURING THE AFTERNOONS AND EVENINGS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THERE WILL BE A MODERATE RISK OF FLASH FLOODING WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. CAZ060-061-062-141300- APPLE AND YUCCA VALLEYS- COACHELLA VALLEY- SAN DIEGO COUNTY DESERTS- 620 AM PDT TUE JUL 13 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY INCREASING MONSOONAL MOISTURE WILL BRING A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE DESERTS DURING THE AFTERNOONS AND EVENINGS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THERE WILL BE A MODERATE RISK OF FLASH FLOODING IN PARTS OF THE DESERTS WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. MAXWELL
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 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 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: 5411321.