California, 2001

Wildfire in California, August 28 to 31, 2001

August 28 to 31, 2001 · NWS EKA · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A car on Highway 299 sparked the blaze near Oregon Mountain summit that was fanned by strong winds. Final fire size was about 1680 acres.

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.

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$3.5 million
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 EKA wrote it up.

A car on Highway 299 sparked the blaze near Oregon Mountain summit that was fanned by strong winds. Final fire size was about 1680 acres. Two-thirds of Weaverville's 3,000 residents were evacuated for a time. Thirteen homes, thirteen outbuildings, and 29 vehicles were destroyed.

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 Eureka, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 28, 1:30 PM PST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 28, 1:30 PM PST, 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EUREKA CA
230 PM PDT TUE AUG 28 2001

LONG WAVE PATTERN OF TROUGHS ALONG 160W AND ACROSS THE ERN U.S.
SHOULD NOT CHANGE MUCH OVER NEXT 5 TO 7 DAYS. SHORT WAVE TROUGHS
APPROACHING THE WEST COAST THROUGH THE WEEKEND SHOULD FEEL THE
EFFECTS OF THE RIDGE ACROSS THE WESTERN US...AND WEAKEN AS THEY
ARRIVE AT THE PAC NW COAST. MAIN EFFECT OF APPROACHING TROUGHS WILL
BE TO WEAKEN THE OFFSHORE SFC HIGH...PUSH THE SHORT WAVE RIDGE AXIS
INLAND...AND LOWER HEIGHTS AND THICKNESSES ACROSS NRN CA. A COOLING
TREND INLAND WITH A DEEPER MARINE LAYER AT THE COAST WILL RESULT.
FOR THE SHORT TERM THIS WILL MEAN AN INCREASE IN THE STRATUS AT THE
REDWOOD COAST...AND POSSIBLY SOME DRIZZLE THU NIGHT. BUT BY THE
WEEKEND THE MARINE INVERSION MAY BECOME WEAK ENOUGH TO ALLOW SOME
MIXING AND MORE SUN. CURRENT MRF IS LESS AGGRESSIVE WITH THE TROUGH
PROGGED TO APPROACH THE NORTH COAST ON MONDAY...AND ALONG WITH THE
ECMWF SUGGESTS THE POSSIBILITY OF A WEAK CUT OFF LOW JUST OFF THE
NRN CA COAST. FOR NOW WILL LEAVE INLAND EXTENDED FORECAST DRY.
TJADEN

ALL POPS 000.

.EKA...GALE WARNING CAPE MENDOCINO TO PT ARENA 20-60NM.
    ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CAPE MENDOCINO TO PT ARENA 0-20 NM
    ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY PT ST GEORGE TO CAPE MENDOCINO OUT 60 NM

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, Trinity

When
August 28, 2:00 PM PST to August 31, 3:00 PM PST
Where
Trinity County, 2 mi W of Weaverville
Property damage
$3.5 million
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
40.651, -123.113 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

More

Every storm in California in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in California, August 2001

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: 5265820.