High Wind in California, July 3, 2001

Name: High Wind in California, July 3, 2001
Start: 2001-07-03T10:00
End: 2001-07-03T16:00
Location: California

July 3, 2001 · NWS HNX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Several dry lightning fire starts were reported thus meeting verification criteria for Red Flag Fire Weather Warnings in CWFA Fire Zones.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

Several dry lightning fire starts were reported thus meeting verification criteria for Red Flag Fire Weather Warnings in CWFA Fire Zones.

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, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 3, 8:15 AM PST, 1 hour 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

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, S Sierra Mtns

When: July 3, 10:00 AM PST to 4:00 PM PST
Where: S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Tulare Cty Mtns

When: July 3, 10:00 AM PST to 4:00 PM PST
Where: Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5253389, 5253390.