The Volcano fire started around 1045 PST on the 1st, near the intersection of Tenaja Road and Via Volcano, in La Cresta (near Murrieta). Voluntary evacuations were in place for residents in the area at a local high school.
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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 Volcano fire started around 1045 PST on the 1st, near the intersection of Tenaja Road and Via Volcano, in La Cresta (near Murrieta). Voluntary evacuations were in place for residents in the area at a local high school. One unidentified structure was destroyed. Three firefighters received minor injuries; one was transported by paramedics for treatment. The fire burned a total of 350 acres before being fully contained around 0700 PST on the 2nd. The cause of the fire was determined to be motorized equipment used to clear brush.
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 1, 8:35 AM PST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 935 AM PDT WED AUG 1 2012 .SYNOPSIS... A WEAK UPPER LOW WILL CONTINUE PERIODS OF CLOUDS...AND A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS...MAINLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS INTO THE WEEKEND. ALONG THE COAST...A SHALLOW MARINE LAYER WILL CONTINUE PERIODS OF LATE NIGHT AND MORNING LOW CLOUDS AND FOG. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR NORMAL MID-SUMMER LEVELS. THE ATMOSPHERE WILL GRADUALLY DRY OUT EARLY NEXT WEEK AS HIGH PRESSURE REBUILDS ALOFT FOR WARMER DAYS...LESS CLOUDINESS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS...AND LOWER HUMIDITY. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES... EQUIPMENT OUTAGES...KEYX WSR-88D...AWAITING PARTS. ETR STILL UNCERTAIN. && .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY TWO LOW PRESSURE CENTERS TO WORRY ABOUT DURING THIS TIME PERIOD. THE CLOSEST AND MORE OBVIOUS ONE IS CURRENTLY CENTERED OVER SOUTHEAST SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY...IT REMAINS QUASI-STATIONARY TODAY THEN MOVES TOWARDS SOUTH-SOUTHWEST TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...ALLOWING THE VORTICITY LOBES ROTATING AROUND IT TO AGAIN MOVE ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS/DESERTS OF SW CALIFORNIA. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES IN AND AROUND THIS LOW OBSERVED AND FORECAST BETWEEN 1-1.8 INCHES...K VALUES IN THE 30S...LIFTED INDICES LESS THAN MINUS 6...AND CAPE VALUES 4000-10000 J/KG. IT PRODUCED FLASH FLOODING AND DOWNDRAFT GUSTS PLUS 40 MPH MONDAY AND TUESDAY WHEN IT WAS MOVING NORTH ALONG THE EASTERN EDGE OF THE FORECAST AREA AND NO REASON TO NOT EXPECT SIMILAR RESULTS ON ITS RETURN JOURNEY SOUTH THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. MAIN AREAS IMPACTED WILL AGAIN BE MOUNTAINS WESTWARD WITH SOME SPILL OVER INTO INLAND VALLEYS...BUT MAIN EFFECT WEST OF MOUNTAINS WILL BE DISRUPTION/ELIMINATION OF MARINE STRATUS CLOUDS. THE SECOND LOW IS CURRENTLY ELONGATED ALONG 128W BETWEEN LATITUDES 24N-28N. IT CONSOLIDATES AND MOVES NORTH THROUGH THURSDAY THEN TURNS EAST THURSDAY NIGHT. FRO FRIDAY AND SATURDAY THESE TWO CYCLONIC CENTERS ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO BEGIN DUMB BELLING AROUND EACH OTHER...THE FUJIWARA EFFECT...OR IF THE GLOBAL/REGIONAL MODELS ARE CORRECT...MERGE INTO ONE LARGE LOW OFF THE SW CALIFORNIA COAST. SINCE THIS MAY BE ALIASING EFFECT RESULTING FROM COARSER MODEL RESOLUTION...WILL BE RELYING ON HIGHER RESOLUTION MODELS FOR THIS TIME PERIOD. INTERESTINGLY...THESE TWO CENTERS WERE ONCE JOINED AS THE EASTERLY WAVE THAN MOVED ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL MEXICO LAST WEEK. && .LONG TERM...SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY AUGUST 8 THE MODELS MERGE THE TWO AFOREMENTIONED LOWS WITH A TROUGH IN THE WESTERLIES RESULTING IN A NEGATIVE TILT TROUGH MOVING ACROSS CALIFORNIA SUNDAY. BY MONDAY THE AXIS MOVES NORTHEAST OF FORECAST AREA. ASSUMING THIS IS CORRECT THEN NEXT WEEK SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA SHOULD FINALLY SEE DRYING AND STABILIZING OF THE AIR MASS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS...WHILE WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS A DEEPENING OF THE MARINE LAYER WOULD BE EXPECTED ALONG WITH RETURN OF LATE NIGHT/EARLY MORNING STRATUS TO INLAND VALLEYS. && .AVIATION... 011545Z...COAST/VALLEYS...MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES WEST OF THE MTS TODAY WITH SCT-BKN CLOUDS AOA FL100 AND UNRESTRICTED VSBY. STRATUS WILL RETURN TO THE COASTAL AIRPORTS BTWN 06-09Z WITH BASES AROUND 1000 FT MSL AND TOPS 1500 FT MSL. KONT WILL ONCE AGAIN BE SPARED ANY CIG TONIGHT. COASTAL STRATUS IS EXPECTED TO CLEAR BY 16-17Z TOMORROW MORNING. CONFIDENCE IN STRATUS TIMING IS MODERATE. MTNS/DESERTS...SCT-BKN CLOUDS AOA FL100 THIS MORNING. ISOLATED TSTMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON...MAINLY IN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY. BASES WILL BE AROUND 8000 FT MSL WITH TOPS TO 40000 FT MSL. TSTMS WILL DISSIPATE BY SUNSET. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CA...NONE AT THIS TIME. PZ...NONE. && PUBLIC/FIRE WEATHER...BALFOUR AVIATION/MARINE...TS SHORT TERM WARNINGS/STATEMENTS...PIERCE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 1024 AM PDT WED AUG 1 2012 CAZ055-056-058-060>062-020100- SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS-RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS-APPLE AND LUCERNE VALLEYS- COACHELLA VALLEY-SAN DIEGO COUNTY DESERTS- 1024 AM PDT WED AUG 1 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT LOW PRESSURE OVER SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND LINGERING SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH BRIEF HEAVY SHOWERS. THE FLASH FLOOD INDEX IS LOW...THE RISK OF FLASH FLOODING IS MINIMAL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...AIR MASS MORE UNSTABLE AS LOW PRESSURE MOVES CLOSER TO SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA. CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY DOWNPOURS. THE FLASH FLOOD INDEX INCREASES TO MODERATE TO HIGH DURING THIS PERIOD...AND FLASH FLOODING IS POSSIBLE. MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...THE LOW MOVES OFF TO THE NORTHEAST AND THE AIR MASS BECOMES DRY AND STABLE. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN WEATHER ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED FOR THIS AREA... HOWEVER WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS. CAZ042-043-048-050-057-PZZ750-775-020100- ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS-SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS- SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTY VALLEYS-THE INLAND EMPIRE- SAN DIEGO COUNTY VALLEYS-SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS- COASTAL WATERS FROM SAN MATEO POINT TO THE MEXICAN BORDER AND OUT 30 NM- WATERS FROM SAN MATEO POINT TO THE MEXICAN BORDER EXTENDING 30 TO 60 NM OUT INCLUDING SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND- 1024 AM PDT WED AUG 1 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY. BALFOUR
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 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in California, August 2012
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: 398052.