Fresno and neighboring counties of Kings and Tulare received widespread convective activity during the late afternoon and early evening of Saturday, June 6th. Unofficial reports of golfball sized hail occurred in the Tulare County town of Dinuba.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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 HNX wrote it up.
Fresno and neighboring counties of Kings and Tulare received widespread convective activity during the late afternoon and early evening of Saturday, June 6th. Unofficial reports of golfball sized hail occurred in the Tulare County town of Dinuba. The damage in Fresno County occurred in the west toward Kerman and areas around Orange Cove and Reedley southeast of Fresno City. Moderate to heavy hail damaged trees, vines, and tomatoes by stripping off fruit and foilage. Vegetable plants were damaged by heavy rains and mud...and some cotton by hail and heavy rain. Fungal and viral diseases were increased. The total extent of damage to citrus will not be known until the harvest.
The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 49 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:43 UTC.
3 flood, 2 lightning, 2 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a house causing damage...but no injuries. The thunderstorm activity...between gusty wind and torrential rain... led to the disruption of power to over 25,000 residents in Central Fresno County.
As reported by Fresno County Ag Commissioner that large amounts of hail with some reaching 1" in diameter occurred in the Reedley area. Other damage areas in Fresno County were around Kerman, Riverdale, Orange Cove, and Kingsburg.
Thunderstorm wind blew down trees and powerlines near Orange Cove in Fresno County. Further damage was caused by small hail (less than 3/4" diameter) on crops from Fresno to Visalia including the communities of Reedley...Dinuba...Orosi...Exeter...Kingsburg...and Farmersville. Fresno County estimated $16.4M damage with $14.8M occurring in the Reedley area alone. The following were estimated as being damaged: 4000 acres citrus...152 acres apples...127 acres grapes...and a number of other stone fruit crops.
The Ag Commissioner's Office reported the Sultana area of Northwest Tulare County was especially hard hit by this spring storm with hail a "quarter" in size. Moderate to severe damage occurred on 3478 acres of citrus and stone fruit...splitting the young fruit...with another 1000 acres light damage and scarring. In Visalia, a spotter reported hail generally at 3/4" but reaching up to 1" in size.
By 1835PST 0.75" of rain had fallen from a thunderstorm in the previous 50 minutes in Chowchilla ...streets were flooded with standing water. Total rain in the period ending by 2000 PST was 1.46".
Lightning strike on a tree in south Merced reported by a spotter.
A Thunderstorm deluge caused the roof of a car wash to collapse in southeast Fresno City. As measured by ASOS at FAT 1.23" of rain fell between 1900-2000PST (0.72" between 1856-1927PST) with a storm total of 1.80". This rain and additonal rainy days combined to establish a new June rainfall record for Fresno, CA, at 1.93" (the old record was 1.66" in 1939). There were numerous instances of flooded streets all over Fresno from the storm system swinging from south to north through the area. The thunderstorm activity...between gusty wind and torrential rain... led to the disruption of power to over 25,000 residents in Central Fresno County. The rainfall season total stands at 20.31"... the third wettest on record behind 1982-83 and 1968-69. Agricultural losses continue to mount. As the unusual amount of rain from June adds disease to area strawberries and vineyards. Most crops continue to be 3-6 weeks behind a normal season growth.
Thunderstorm activity brought sustained heavy rain up to the 8500-foot level of the Southern Sierra Nevada causing a subsequent spike in the height of the Merced River through Yosemite Valley. As measured at Pohono Bridge the height of the river climbed to 9.3 feet (up from 8.0 feet 24 hours previous) by 0400PST 6/7/98 just below the warning stage of 9.5 feet.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in California, June 1998
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: 5636143, 5636253, 5636144, 5636145, 5636250, 5636146, 5636251, 5636252.