Wildfire in California, March 14 to 16, 2022

Name: Wildfire in California, March 14 to 16, 2022
Start: 2022-03-14T00:00
End: 2022-03-16T00:00
Location: California

March 14 to 16, 2022 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Heritage Fire began on Monday, March 14th near Oro Grande. It grew to about 500 acres and crossed into the city limits of Victorville, CA on Tuesday March 15th.

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.

The Heritage Fire began on Monday, March 14th near Oro Grande. It grew to about 500 acres and crossed into the city limits of Victorville, CA on Tuesday March 15th. Though some structures were threatened, no damage directly from the fire was observed.

What forecasters said that 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 Mar 13, 8:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 13, 8:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service San Diego CA
930 PM PDT Sun Mar 13 2022

.SYNOPSIS...
A trough moving inland across California will bring gusty west winds
to the mountains and deserts, gradually diminishing overnight. The
weather this week will be dry with warm days and cool nights. A
Pacific storm will bring a decent chance of rain and mountain snow
next weekend.

&&

.DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTIES...

Winds were continuing in some of the mountain and desert areas,
though overall the peak was between about 3 PM and 6 PM today,
including 67 MPH at the remote Toro Peak and 58 MPH at Whitewater
West in San Gorgonio Pass. West winds will gradually diminish
overnight, though some areas of Riverside and San Diego County will
continue to have local gusts over 45 MPH through around or shortly
after midnight. The winds will briefly become easterly Monday as a
transient ridge moves west to east over the region, with the
easterly winds mainly inland. Then, a transient trough will move
west to east across the region Tuesday/Wednesday and be accompanied
by a return to westerly winds across the region. Overall, zonal flow
will mean that the troughs and ridges will be rather weak, and
temperatures will have minor day-to-day variations through Friday,
mostly near or a little above seasonal normals. The marine layer
will mostly be weak with somewhat limited night and morning low
clouds and fog near the coast.

Next weekend will have a more amplified trough of low pressure
originating from a mid-week developing wave associated with a
closed low over southwestern Alaska, but regardless, temperatures
will most likely only decrease to a few degrees below normal by
around Sunday as the system will modify considerably and not have
any large broad troughing when it moves through the West Coast. All
3 main ensemble groups (ENS, GEFS, CMC) have at least half their
ensemble members showing precipitation in non-desert parts of SoCal,
with quite a few members suggesting 1/4 inch or more total. Not a
lot, but at least rain chances appear fairly likely. The snow level
will probably be between about 5000 and 6000 feet, so a few inches
of snow could fall in the mountains.

&&

.AVIATION...
140330Z......FEW-SCT low clouds with bases 800-1500 feet MSL will
impact some areas along the coast tonight, though exact placement
and timing is still uncertain. Confidence is low to moderate in CIG
and VIS impacts to coastal TAF sites, where KSAN may start to see
cigs by 06Z. Low clouds clearing 16-18Z.

Strong west winds are expected over the mountains and desert slopes
through tonight, with gusts 40 to 50 kts. Moderate to strong
up/downdrafts and LLWS expected over, north and east of the
mountains.

&&

.MARINE...
No hazardous marine conditions are expected through Monday. Winds
will increase Tuesday evening through late Wednesday night, where
gusts near 25 knots and seas 6 to 8 feet are possible, mainly over
the Outer Waters.

&&

.SKYWARN...
Skywarn activation will not be needed this week.

&&

.SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CA...Wind Advisory until 1 AM Monday for Coachella Valley-
     Riverside County Mountains-San Diego County Deserts-San
     Diego County Mountains-San Gorgonio Pass Near Banning.

PZ...NONE.

&&

PUBLIC...Maxwell
AVIATION/MARINE...PG

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Apple and Lucerne Valleys

When: March 14, 12:00 AM PST to March 16, 12:00 AM PST
Where: Apple and Lucerne Valleys forecast zone
Reported by: Fire Department/Rescue
Coordinates: 34.841, -116.178 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Heritage Fire erupted on Monday March 14th, and burned nearly 500 acres. Gusty winds fueled the fire causing it to grow to 10-15 acres within 30 minutes of initiation. After approximately one hour, the fire had jumped to 80 acres and was threatening at least 20 structures. Evacuations were issued south of Melrose. The Southern California Logistics Airport (KVCV) reported west wind gusts around 15 mph, and relative humidity of around 12 percent.

What these are

Wildfire: A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2022 Every state in 2022 This day in weather history Warnings in California, March 2022

Sources

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: 1015436.