The Etiwanda fire began on April 30th around 0700 PST in the San Bernardino National Forest near Rancho Cucamonga in San Bernardino County. The fire was due to an escaped illegal campfire a few days prior, when strong winds blew embers that ignited in Day Canyon.
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.
The Etiwanda fire began on April 30th around 0700 PST in the San Bernardino National Forest near Rancho Cucamonga in San Bernardino County. The fire was due to an escaped illegal campfire a few days prior, when strong winds blew embers that ignited in Day Canyon. A mandatory evacuation order was issued for Rancho Cucamonga residents from Haven Avenue to Carnelian Street, north of Hillside Road, as well as the area West of Etiwanda, North of Wilson and East of Day Creek Wash. Schools evacuated included Day Creek Intermediate School, Los Osos High School, Heritage Intermediate School and Caryn Elementary. The fire burned rapidly south, threatening 600-800 structures. 2143 acres before being fully contained on May 6. Three firefighters sustained unknown minor injuries and one structure was damaged.
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 Apr 30, 8:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
930 PM PDT WED APR 30 2014
.SYNOPSIS...
GUSTY SANTA ANA WINDS WILL CONTINUE FOR ONE MORE DAY BEFORE ENDING.
IT WILL REMAIN VERY WARM FRIDAY BUT THE WINDS WILL BE LIGHTER. ON
SATURDAY A RETURN TO WEAK ONSHORE FLOW WILL BRING COOLING WEST OF
THE MOUNTAINS...BUT IT WILL REMAIN HOT IN THE LOWER DESERTS.
CONTINUED COOLING IN ALL AREAS SUNDAY AND MONDAY WITH STRONGER
ONSHORE FLOW AND A DEEPENING MARINE LAYER.
&&
.DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTIES...
SOME OF THE STRONGEST SANTA ANA WINDS IN RECENT MEMORY WHIPPED
ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TODAY...DOWNING TREES FROM THE MOUNTAINS
TO THE COAST. A 101 MPH WIND GUST WAS CLOCKED AT SILL HILL BELOW
CUYAMACA PEAK IN THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS. FREMONT CANYON IN
ORANGE COUNTY HAD A GUST OF 94 MPH. THE ONTARIO AIRPORT HAD A GUST
TO 70 MPH. AT THE COAST...EAST WINDS GUSTED TO 30-40 MPH WHICH IS
HIGHLY UNUSUAL FOR LATE APRIL. SANTA ANA EVENTS OF THIS MAGNITUDE
ARE NOT ALL THAT COMMON EVEN DURING PEAK SANTA ANA MONTHS. TO HAVE
SUCH A STRONG SANTA ANA EVENT AT THE END OF APRIL IS RARER STILL.
AND THIS SANTA ANA IS NOT OVER YET. THE WRF MODEL PROJECTS A FINAL
SURGE OF STRONG EASTERLY WINDS DOWN THE MOUNTAINS AND INTO THE
FOOTHILLS AND VALLEYS TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY. WINDS SPEEDS WITH
THE SURFACING MOUNTAIN WAVE COULD COME CLOSE TO WHAT OCCURRED
WEDNESDAY MORNING. SO EXPECT ANOTHER VERY WINDY DAY WITH GUSTS OF
30-50 MPH IN THE FOOTHILLS AND VALLEYS...AND GUSTS OF 60 TO 80 MPH
IN THE WIND PRONE MTNS AND FOOTHILLS. WIND GUSTS OF 20-35 MPH WILL
IMPACT THE COAST ONCE AGAIN. LIKE TODAY...THE WINDS WILL CONTINUE
THROUGH THE AFTERNOON...THEN DECREASE IN THE EVENING. AND THAT WILL
MARK THE END OF THIS LONG 3-DAY SANTA ANA WIND EVENT.
NIGHTS WILL BE WARM AND DAYS WILL BE HOT THROUGH FRIDAY. AS AN
EXAMPLE OF JUST HOW WARM THIS AIRMASS IS...THE LOW AT SAN DIEGO THIS
MORNING WAS 68. THE AVERAGE HIGH FOR SAN DIEGO IS 68.
THE WINDS ARE KEEPING TEMPERATURES ELEVATED TOO. AT 8 PM...JOHN
WAYNE AIRPORT WAS 88F WITH NE WINDS AT 15 MPH...AND ONTARIO WAS 82F
WITH NE WIND AT 14 MPH. THURSDAY WILL BE ANOTHER HOT DAY WITH HIGHS
IN 90S. RECORD HIGHS WITHIN REACH AT SANTA ANA (92)...NEWPORT BEACH
(86)...SAN DIEGO (81) AND RAMONA (92).
ON FRIDAY THE RIDGE AXIS WILL BE OVER THE SOUTHWEST. THE WEAKER
OFFSHORE FLOW MEANS A SEA BREEZE SHOULD KEEP AREAS NEAR THE COAST IN
THE 80S TO AROUND 90. THE RIDGE SLIDES EAST OVER THE WEEKEND FOR
GRADUAL COOLING THAT WILL SPREAD INTO THE VALLEYS SATURDAY...AND
THEN INTO THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS SUNDAY. A SHALLOW MARINE LAYER
WILL RETURN TO THE COASTAL AREAS SUNDAY MORNING. EARLY NEXT WEEK A
DEEPENING WEST COAST TROUGH WILL BRING MORE SIGNIFICANT COOLING
ALONG WITH GUSTY ONSHORE WINDS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS.
&&
.AVIATION...
010330Z...LIGHT WINDS AT THE SURFACE AND NORTHEASTERLY FLOW
CONTINUES ALOFT WILL CREATE LLWS OVER THE COASTAL SITES TONIGHT.
LLWS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE OVER THE INLAND EMPIRE THROUGH
01/1200Z...UNTIL THE STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS SURFACE. OVER THE
VALLEYS...NE WINDS 30 TO 40 KT GUSTING TO OVER 60 KT IN WIND PRONE
AREAS...WILL DEVELOP AFTER DAYBREAK THURSDAY. KONT WILL ONCE AGAIN
EXPERIENCE WINDS GUSTING TO OVER 40 KT AT TIMES. CONFIDENCE IS
MODERATE. KSNA...KCRQ...AND KSAN WILL EXPERIENCE NORTHEASTERLY WINDS
AS WELL. MTN WAVE ACTIVITY WILL CREATE THE POSSIBILITY OF STRONG
UDDFS ON THE SOUTHWEST SIDE OF COASTAL MOUNTAIN SLOPES. BLOWING DUST
WILL REDUCE VIS TO LESS TO 3-5 SM IN PORTIONS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE
AND COACHELLA VALLEY. OTHERWISE...VFR AND SKC THROUGH THU AFTN.
WINDS DECREASE AFT 02/0100Z.
&&
.MARINE...
NE WIND GUSTS TO 20 KT COULD PRODUCE CHOPPY SEAS OVER THE INNER
WATERS THURSDAY...MAINLY AROUND LA JOLLA AND NORTH OF OCEANSIDE IN
THE MORNING.
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...
EXTREME FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS THROUGH THURSDAY WITH VERY STRONG
WINDS AND HOT AND VERY DRY WEATHER. WINDS RESTRENGTHENING TONIGHT
AND PEAKING THURSDAY WITH WIDESPREAD GUSTS OF 40-60 MPH IN THE
MOUNTAINS...VALLEYS AND ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS...WITH GUSTS IN
EXCESS OF 70-80 MPH IN THE WIND PRONE FOOTHILLS AND CANYONS.
WIDESPREAD SINGLE DIGIT HUMIDITY. HOT AND DRY AGAIN FRIDAY WITH MUCH
LIGHTER OFFSHORE WINDS IN THE MORNING TRANSITIONING TO ONSHORE IN
THE AFTERNOON. FOR THE WEEKEND...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL WEAKEN AND
THE RETURN OF ONSHORE FLOW WILL BRING COOLING...INCREASING
HUMIDITIES...AND THE RETURN OF A MARINE LAYER THAT WILL DEEPEN
THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK.
&&
.SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CA...HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 5 PM PDT THURSDAY FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY
COASTAL AREAS...RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS...SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTY MOUNTAINS...SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTY
VALLEYS-THE INLAND EMPIRE...SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS...
SAN DIEGO COUNTY VALLEYS...SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS AND
FOOTHILLS.
RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 8 PM PDT THURSDAY FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY
COASTAL AREAS...RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INCLUDING THE
SAN JACINTO RANGER DISTRICT OF THE SAN BERNARDINO NATIONAL
FOREST...SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTY VALLEYS-THE
INLAND EMPIRE...SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INCLUDING
THE MOUNTAIN TOP AND FRONT COUNTRY RANGER DISTRICTS OF THE
SAN BERNARDINO NATIONAL FOREST...SANTA ANA
MOUNTAINS-INCLUDING THE TRABUCO RANGER DISTRICT OF THE
CLEVELAND NATIONAL FOREST.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 5 PM PDT THURSDAY FOR THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY
COASTAL AREAS.
PZ...NONE.
&&
PUBLIC/FIRE WEATHER...MOEDE
AVIATION/MARINE...JTThe 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 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in California, May 2014
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: 522306.