California, 2001

Heat in California, July 3, 2001

July 3, 2001 · NWS HNX · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

From the last day of June through the first 5 days in July, temperatures soared above 100 degrees F. in the Central and Southern San Joaquin Valley as well as the Kern Mountain area around Lake Isabella.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
5

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 HNX wrote it up.

From the last day of June through the first 5 days in July, temperatures soared above 100 degrees F. in the Central and Southern San Joaquin Valley as well as the Kern Mountain area around Lake Isabella. The warmest day was the 3rd when Fresno and Bakersfield both climbed to 110F with 108F at Lake Isabella. This peak day occurred with the day before and after around 105F on the S.J. Valley floor. With accompanying high humidity due to an early season monsoon flow, the Bakersfield Heat Index climbed to 112F. While not meeting criteria for Heat Advisories, it was also quite warm in the Kern Deserts during this period with 112F at Inyokern. In the Southern Sierra Nevada, Yosemite Valley reached 100F!

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 Hanford, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 3, 8:15 AM PST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 3, 8:15 AM PST, 3 hours 45 minutes before
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
915 AM PDT TUE JUL 3 2001

TWO MAIN FORECAST PROBLEMS TODAY...NEAR-RECORD HEAT AND MOUNTAIN
CONVECTION. THE UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE REMAINS IN CONTROL OF THE REGION/S
WEATHER...AND THE SOUTHERLY FLOW OVER CALIFORNIA CONTINUES TO BRING
MID- AND UPPER-LEVEL MOISTURE TO THE REGION.

CENTRAL/SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY TEMPERATURE TRENDS AT 15Z WERE
ON TRACK FOR NEAR-RECORD HIGHS TODAY. THE 12Z ETA FOUS HAS LOWERED
THE T1 MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR TODAY BY 1 DEGREE C...DOWN TO 44 C
/OR 111 F/. DO NOT EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO GET QUITE THAT WARM...AS
THERE ARE A BIT MORE HIGH CLOUDS OVER THE REGION THIS MORNING...WITH
MORE EXPECTED LATER TODAY. ALSO...DEW POINTS ARE UP AS MUCH AS 8
DEGREES AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...STILL EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO BE NEAR
THE RECORD LEVELS TODAY...WITH HEAT INDICES AS HIGH AS 115 DEGREES.
CURRENT HEAT ADVISORY IS ON TRACK...AND MAY NEED TO REISSUE FOR
WEDNESDAY WITH THIS AFTERNOON/S PACKAGE.

HAD SEVERAL THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE CREST FROM TULARE TULARE COUNTY
NORTHWARD MONDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING. FOR THIS AFTERNOON...THE 12Z
MESO-ETA IS FORECASTING 850-500-MB LAYER RELATIVE HUMIDITIES OF 50-60
PERCENT WITH PRECPTABLE WATER BETWEEN 1.0 AND 1.5 INCH. THE 850-MB
THETA-E VALUES ARE FORECAST TO BE SIMILAR TO MONDAY AFTERNOON...BUT
THE OTHER CONVECTIVE PARAMETERS ARE FORECAST TO BE STRONGER. LIFTED
INDICES ARE FORECAST TO BE DOWN TO -3...COMPARED TO -2 MONDAY...AND
THE CAPE IS PREDICTED TO BE MUCH HIGHER...1200 J/KG...COMPARED TO
THE PEAK OF 480 J/KG MONDAY AFTERNOON. EXPECT REPEAT OF MOBNDAY/S
ACTIVITY...POSSIBLY MORE WIDESPREAD. WILL INCREASE THE POPS FOR THE
MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON.

POPS FAT BFL 00- YNP 424. SANGER

HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORDS...

                 JUL 3        JUL 4
FRESNO         110 (1889)   112 (1889)
BAKERSFIELD    111 (1945)   114 (1931)

.HNX...HEAT ADVISORY TODAY FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN
       JOAQUIN VALLEY...AND THE LOWER KERN RIVER CANYON INCLUDING
       THE LAKE ISABELLA AREA.

Event by event

5 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Sw Sj Valley

When
July 3, 12:00 PM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where
Sw Sj Valley forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heat, Se Sj Valley

When
July 3, 12:00 PM PST to 7:30 PM PST
Where
Se Sj Valley forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heat, E Central Sj Valley

When
July 3, 1:00 PM PST to 6:30 PM PST
Where
E Central Sj Valley forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heat, Kern Cty Mtns

When
July 3, 1:34 PM PST to 3:00 PM PST
Where
Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heat, W Central Sj Valley

When
July 3, 3:00 PM PST to 5:00 PM PST
Where
W Central Sj Valley forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

Heat
Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.

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, July 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: 5253381, 5253382, 5253380, 5253383, 5253379.