Alert archive / California / Red Flag Warnings in 2012

Red Flag Warning 3, NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA

August 4, 2012Monterey County, San Benito County, California

NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA issued this red flag warning at Aug 4, 2012, 11:08 AM PDT for Monterey County, San Benito County, California. It was in force for 7 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 4, 2012, 11:08 AM PDT (18:08 UTC)
Expired
Aug 4, 2012, 6:13 PM PDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Counties Monterey County, CA, San Benito County, CA

The radar

The San Francisco radar (KMUX), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:09 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Oakland, CA (KOAK), launched 12:00Z, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 171 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Oakland, CA at 12:00Z on 2012-08-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Oakland, CA at 12:00Z on 2012-08-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -12 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1020 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
43 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

099 
WWUS86 KMTR 041808
RFWMTR

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
1108 AM PDT SAT AUG 4 2012

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF SAN BENITO AND
INTERIOR MONTEREY COUNTIES THROUGH THIS EVENING...

.ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH DRY LIGHTNING WILL CONTINUE TO OCCUR
ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS OF INTERIOR MONTEREY COUNTY AND SAN BENITO
COUNTY TODAY. NUMEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES ARE
EXPECTED IN THESE STORMS. LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY IS EXPECTED TO
CONTINUE ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN LOCATIONS WITH RELATIVE HUMIDITY
BELOW 25 PERCENT TODAY. LOCALLY GUSTY WINDS WILL ACCOMPANY THE 
STORMS AS WELL. 

CAZ517-518-050300-
/O.NEW.KMTR.FW.W.0003.120804T1808Z-120805T0300Z/
SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS AND LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST-
MOUNTAINS OF SAN BENITO AND INTERIOR MONTEREY COUNTY INCLUDING
PINNACLES NATIONAL MONUMENT-
1108 AM PDT SAT AUG 4 2012

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM PDT THIS EVENING FOR
THUNDERSTORMS WITH DRY LIGHTNING FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF SAN 
BENITO COUNTY AND INTERIOR MONTEREY COUNTY ABOVE 2000 FEET.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA HAS
ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM PDT
THIS EVENING. 


* AFFECTED AREA: FIRE ZONE 517 SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS AND LOS 
  PADRES NATIONAL FOREST...FIRE ZONE 518 MOUNTAINS OF SAN 
  BENITO AND INTERIOR MONTEREY COUNTY INCLUDING PINNACLES 
  NATIONAL MONUMENT.

* TIMING: FROM LATE MORNING SATURDAY THROUGH EVENING HOURS.

* THUNDERSTORMS: ISOLATED STORMS WITH DRY LIGHTNING STRIKES OVER
  THE HIGH TERRAIN ABOVE 2000 FEET. CHANCES DIMINISHING THIS
  EVENING.

* OUTFLOW WINDS: GUSTY LOCAL WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH WILL BE
  POSSIBLE IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF THUNDERSTORMS.

* IMPACTS: THE COMBINATION OF DRY LIGHTNING STRIKES AND LOW
  RELATIVE HUMIDITY IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN WILL CREATE CRITICAL
  FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS...PRIMARILY ABOVE 2000 FEET IN THE
  MOUNTAINS OF SAN BENITO AND INTERIOR MONTEREY COUNTIES. 



PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF
STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL
CREATE EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL.

&&

$$


HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/SANFRANCISCO
1 follow-up statement
291 
WWUS86 KMTR 050113
RFWMTR

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
613 PM PDT SAT AUG 4 2012

...RED FLAG WARNING FOR SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS AND LOS PADRES
NATIONAL FOREST...MOUNTAINS OF SAN BENITO AND INTERIOR MONTEREY
COUNTY INCLUDING PINNACLES NATIONAL MONUMENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED...

CAZ517-518-050215-
/O.CAN.KMTR.FW.W.0003.000000T0000Z-120805T0300Z/
SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS AND LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST-
MOUNTAINS OF SAN BENITO AND INTERIOR MONTEREY COUNTY INCLUDING
PINNACLES NATIONAL MONUMENT-
613 PM PDT SAT AUG 4 2012

...RED FLAG WARNING IS CANCELLED FOR THUNDERSTORMS WITH DRY
LIGHTNING FOR SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS AND LOS PADRES NATIONAL
FOREST...MOUNTAINS OF SAN BENITO AND INTERIOR MONTEREY COUNTY
INCLUDING PINNACLES NATIONAL MONUMENT...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA HAS
CANCELLED THE RED FLAG WARNING. 

* AFFECTED AREA: FIRE ZONE 517 SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS AND LOS 
  PADRES NATIONAL FOREST...FIRE ZONE 518 MOUNTAINS OF SAN 
  BENITO AND INTERIOR MONTEREY COUNTY INCLUDING PINNACLES 
  NATIONAL MONUMENT.

* TIMING: CANCELLED 



$$


HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/SANFRANCISCO

The office that day

Everything else NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 4, 3:05 AM PDTSmall Craft AdvisoryMTR20 hr

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in California, 2012Every red flag warning in 2012

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.