The Long Canyon fire started around 1100 PST on September 23rd in the Cleveland National Forest in eastern Orange County, west of the Ortega Highway near the Riverside County line. Some structures were threatened, but the fire generally burned away from the populated areas, 40 acres total.
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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.
The Long Canyon fire started around 1100 PST on September 23rd in the Cleveland National Forest in eastern Orange County, west of the Ortega Highway near the Riverside County line. Some structures were threatened, but the fire generally burned away from the populated areas, 40 acres total. Three firefighters and one police officer suffered non-life threatening heat-related and smoke inhalation injuries. One of the Cleveland National Forest's fire engines was destroyed by fire, cause unknown, no injuries.
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 23, 8:40 AM PST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 940 AM PDT THU SEP 23 2010 .SYNOPSIS...BUILDING HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT AND DEVELOPING WEAK OFFSHORE FLOW WILL BRING DRY AND MUCH WARMER WEATHER THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. A LITTLE COOLER WITH VARIABLE CLOUDINESS TOWARD THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK AS THE HIGH WEAKENS AND MID LEVEL MOISTURE INCREASES...BUT DAYTIME TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ABOVE SEASONAL AVERAGES. && .DISCUSSION...FOR SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA INCLUDING SAN DIEGO... ORANGE...SOUTHWEST SAN BERNARDINO AND WEST RIVERSIDE COUNTIES. MOSTLY CLEAR THIS MORNING WITH PATCHY LOW CLOUDS OVER THE COASTAL AREAS AND SHALLOW GROUND FOG IN SOME INLAND LOCATIONS. THE LOW CLOUDS AND FOG HAVE ALREADY CLEARED...EXCEPT FOR OVER THE COASTAL WATERS. THE MORNING SOUNDING FROM NKX SHOWS A SFC BASED INVERSION WITH A MOIST BOUNDARY LAYER AND ANOTHER WEAK INVERSION AT ABOUT 2000 FEET. ABOVE THAT...THERE IS LITTLE OR NO MOISTURE AND WEAK NE WINDS. THE TROUGH HAS MOVED TO THE EAST AND THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW WILL BECOME HIGH ZONAL TODAY. THE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS HAVE BECOME WEAKLY OFFSHORE TO THE NORTH BUT REMAIN ONSHORE TO THE EAST. IN THE LAST 24 HOURS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT HAS GONE FROM 7 MB ONSHORE SAN-TPH TO 2 MB OFFSHORE SAN-TPH. THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE AND IS LIKELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LACK OF MARINE LAYER LOW CLOUDS THIS MORNING. SYNOPTIC SCALE PRESSURE GRADIENTS WILL REMAIN WEAKLY OFFSHORE THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. AT THE SAME TIME...A STRONG UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE WESTERN U.S. THESE FACTORS WILL COMBINE TO BRING HOT AND DRY WEATHER TO SOCAL...WITH THE MARINE LAYER BEING RESTRICTED TO THE COASTAL WATERS AND IMMEDIATE COAST. INLAND AREAS WILL LIKELY SEE TEMPS WELL ABOVE SEASONAL AVERAGES...WHILE THE AFTERNOON SEA BREEZE WILL MITIGATE TEMPS SOMEWHAT AT THE COAST. SUNDAY AND MONDAY ARE EXPECTED TO BE THE HOTTEST DAYS WITH DAYTIME HIGHS IN THE UPPER 70S TO 80S IN THE COASTAL AREAS...80S TO 90S IN THE COASTAL VALLEYS AND REACHING TRIPLE DIGITS IN THE INLAND VALLEYS AND FOOTHILLS. THE HOT AND DRY WEATHER INLAND WILL INCREASE THE FIRE WEATHER HAZARD...BUT LACK OF STRONG WINDS WILL MITIGATE THE THREAT. A LITTLE COOLER BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK AS THE HIGH WEAKENS...BUT DAYTIME TEMPS WILL REMAIN ABOVE SEASONAL AVERAGES. MID TO HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE IN EASTERLY FLOW WILL INCREASE TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY BRINGING VARIABLE CLOUDINESS AND AFTERNOON CU OVER THE MOUNTAINS. A SMALL CHANCE OF SHOWERS CANNOT BE COMPLETELY RULED OUT...BUT PROBABILITIES ARE CURRENTLY TOO LOW TO INCLUDE IT IN THE FORECAST. && .AVIATION...UPDATED 231641Z...ONLY PATCHY STRATUS THIS MORNING BETWEEN FL015-FL020 OVER WATER BUT VISIBILITY 3-5SM IN HAZE INLAND 15-20SM. BUILDING HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO LOWER SUBSIDENCE INVERSION TODAY AND AFTER 24/0300 UTC E-NE WIND 5-10KT DEVELOPING IN THE FL002-FL120 LAYER. IF STRATUS REFORMS TONIGHT...SHOULD BE MUCH LOWER...AOB FL003...AND PUSH AWAY FROM THE COAST AFTER 0800 UTC AS SYNOPTIC FLOW AND LAND BREEZES COME INTO PHASE. VFR CONDITIONS LIKELY TO PREVAIL FRIDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND AS STRONG HIGH PRESSURE SURFACE AND ALOFT MAINTAINS VERY WARM DRY AND STABLE AIRMASS. DENSITY ALTITUDE MAY SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT MOST AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS THIS WEEKEND. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT FOR THE UPCOMING HEAT...SEE LAXSPSSGX. && PUBLIC...PG AVIATION...BALFOUR
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 400 AM PDT THU SEP 23 2010 CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-240000- ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS-SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS- SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTY VALLEYS-THE INLAND EMPIRE- SAN DIEGO COUNTY VALLEYS-SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS- SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS-APPLE AND LUCERNE VALLEYS- COACHELLA VALLEY-SAN DIEGO COUNTY DESERTS- 400 AM PDT THU SEP 23 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR ALL OF EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY STRONG HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL BRING HOT WEATHER INLAND FROM THE COAST SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. PEOPLE SHOULD AVOID STRENUOUS OUTDOOR ACTIVITY DURING THE HOTTEST PART OF THE DAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SKYWARN WEATHER ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED FOR THIS AREA...HOWEVER WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS. MOEDE
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 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in California, September 2010
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: 260002.