The Silverado Fire began around 1009 PST on the 12th along Silverado Canyon Road in the Cleveland National Forest of the Santa Ana Mountains. The fire burned at a critical rate of spread, threatening power lines and forcing evacuations and road closures.
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 Silverado Fire began around 1009 PST on the 12th along Silverado Canyon Road in the Cleveland National Forest of the Santa Ana Mountains. The fire burned at a critical rate of spread, threatening power lines and forcing evacuations and road closures. Mandatory Evacuations ordered from 30331 Silverado Canyon east to the end of the road (fire gate), approx. 50 residences affecting approximately 220 people. The American Red Cross opened an evacuation center at 1530 at El Modena High School at 3920 East Spring Street. Orange, CA for residents who cannot return home. The Orange County Animal Care connected with residents and incident command for animal coordination. East of 30311 Silverado Canyon Road was closed. The 12kV line servicing Silverado residents was down. One pole and the downed lines needed to be replaced. There were 71 customers without power in Silverado Canyon. After burning a total of 1600 acres, the Silverado Fire was completely contained by 2000 PST on the 13th. Evacuation orders were lifted the following 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 Sep 12, 8:00 AM PST, 2 hours 9 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
900 AM PDT FRI SEP 12 2014
.SYNOPSIS...
HIGH PRESSURE WILL CREATE HOT WEATHER THIS WEEKEND THROUGH EARLY
NEXT WEEK...WITH HIGH TEMPERATURES 10 TO 20 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL FOR
THE VALLEYS AND COAST BY SUNDAY AND MONDAY. LOW CLOUDS AND FOG WILL
BE PATCHY ALONG THE COAST THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. MONSOONAL
MOISTURE WILL BEGIN TO INCREASE OVER THE AREA SUNDAY AND MONDAY FOR
A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MOUNTAINS...WITH
PRECIPITATION CHANCES AND COVERAGE INCREASING BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT
WEEK.
&&
.DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTIES...
THE LOCAL WRF FROM YESTERDAY WAS INDICATING A LOWER AND MORE SOLID
CLOUD DECK THAN WHAT ACTUALLY OCCURRED THIS MORNING. IT WAS MERELY A
STRIP OF CONVERGENCE STRATUS OUT OVER THE COASTAL WATERS TODAY.
BASED ON THE LATEST INFO THE MARINE LAYER SHOULD BE SKIMPY AT BEST
THROUGH THE WEEKEND. ALOFT...RIDGING SHOULD RAMP UP THE
TEMPERATURES... ESPECIALLY WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS INTO THE EARLY PART
OF NEXT WEEK. ALOFT...THE SREF ENSEMBLES ON BUFKIT HINT AT A RETURN
OF THE MONSOON...AND THIS HAS BEEN A CONSISTENT THOUGHT IN THE OTHER
MODELS AS WELL. THIS COMBINATION OF HEAT AND MOISTURE COULD RESULT
IN SOME GREAT LAPSE RATES IF THIS VERIFIES FOR STRONG GUSTY WINDS
AROUND CONVECTION.
THINGS CONTINUE TO BE RATHER INTERESTING FOR THE MIDDLE OF NEXT
WEEK AS THE NEXT DYING TROPICAL SYSTEM APPROACHES. THIS SHOULD RAMP
UP THE CONVECTION AROUND HERE DURING THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK...AND
COULD POTENTIALLY CONTINUE INTO FRIDAY. THE MARINE LAYER WILL
CONTINUE TO BE MINIMAL.
&&
.AVIATION...
121530Z...COAST/VALLEYS...A FEW LOW CLOUDS AROUND 1000 FT MSL OVER
THE COASTAL WATERS THIS MORNING...OTHERWISE SKC WITH UNRESTRICTED
VIS THROUGH THE EVENING. TYPICAL AFTERNOON SEA BREEZES WILL OCCUR
ALONG THE COAST THROUGH 02Z. SATURDAY 10-16Z...A FEW LOW CLOUDS WITH
BASES 800-1200 FT MSL ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE COASTAL WATERS AND ALONG
THE IMMEDIATE COAST...CEILINGS AREA NOT EXPECTED AT ANY OF THE
COASTAL AIRPORTS.
MTNS/DESERTS... A FEW CU BASED A0A 10000 FT MSL IN THE AFTERNOON AND
EVENING...OTHERWISE SKC WITH UNRESTRICTED VIS THROUGH FRIDAY.
&&
.MARINE...
830 AM...NO SIGNIFICANT MARINE WEATHER EXPECTED THROUGH TUESDAY.
&&
.SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CA...HEAT ADVISORY FROM 10 AM SATURDAY TO 7 PM PDT MONDAY FOR THE
ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS...SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE
COUNTY VALLEYS-THE INLAND EMPIRE...SAN DIEGO COUNTY
VALLEYS...SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS.
PZ...NONE.
&&
PUBLIC...SMALL
AVIATION/MARINE...BAThe 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, September 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: 543488.