California, 2001Flash Flood in California, July 6, 2001
July 6, 2001 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone
1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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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- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- 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 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 6, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 6, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour 15 minutes before
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
230 PM PDT FRI JUL 6 2001
SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS DEEP SOUTHEAST MOISTURE STREAM CONTINUING INTO
THE FORECAST AREA WITH AN UPPER LOW MOVING NORTHWEST TOWARD THE LA
BASIN. IR AND VISIBLE IMAGERY SHOWS QUITE A BIT OF THUNDERSTORMS
FORMING OVER SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY AND WITH SOUTHEAST FLOW...EXPECT
THESE TO MOVE INTO KERN COUNTY DESERTS. RECENT REPORT OUT OF RANDSBURG
HAD .15" IN 20 MINUTES THUS HEAVY RAINS ARE LIKELY WITH SUSTAINED
CONVECTIONS. OVER THE SIERRA AND KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS...ATMOSPHERE IS
BECOMING MORE UNSTABLE WITH AFTERNOON HEATING AND CELLS ARE DEVELOPING
IN THE TEHACHAPI AREA...AND JUST NORTHEAST OF BAKERSFIELD. GOES
PRECIPITABLE WATER IMAGERY SHOWS 1.5 TO 2.0" OF WATER THUS POTENTIAL
FOR FLASH FLOODING REMAINS. MODELS KEEP THE SOUTHEAST FLOW AND
MOISTURE IN PLACE OVER THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT AND
THEN TRY TO SHIFT UPPER LEVEL FLOW TO THE SOUTHWEST AND DRY OUT THE
MID AND UPPER LEVELS. LOWER LEVELS SHOULD REMAIN MOIST ENOUGH HOWEVER
TO ALLOW FOR ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS ON SUNDAY OVER ALL BUT THE SAN
JOAQUIN VALLEY.
IN THE EXTENDED FORECAST...LATEST AVN CONTINUES TREND OF DEVELOPING A
LOW OFF THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST AND SHIFTING THE FLOW TO THE
SOUTHWEST OVER THE AREA. DUE TO THE VERY STRONG NATURE OF THE HIGH OVER
THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES...WILL OPT TO KEEPL THE CHANCE IN THE SIERRA AND
KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS/DESERTS THROUGHOUT THE EXTENDED PERIOD...BUT
LEAVE THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY DRY.
.HNX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 900 PM FOR ZONES 95>99.
DUDLEY
Flash Flood, Kern
- When
- July 6, 2:45 PM PST to 4:30 PM PST
- Where
- Kern County, 14 mi N of Bakersfield
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 35.343, -118.730 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Spotter reports confirmed radar imagery that thunderstorm activity, from the Mexican Monsoon, brought very heavy rain to areas north of Bakersfield in the foothills on the western face of the Southern Sierra Nevada. Drainage ditches all filled on mountain roads with creeks rapidly rising to full. Rainfall rates reached 1.5-2.0"/hour in the area approximately 10 miles north of Bakersfield to 23 miles east of Delano in Kern County. In the 24 hour period ending at 5 PM PDT on the 6th, Valley floor rain amounts included 0.07" at Madera, Visalia 0.01", Porterville 0.08", with an unofficial report of up to 2" of rain between 1530-1700 PDT 10 miles north of Bakersfield to the Tulare County line.
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Tornadoes in South Carolina, July 6, 200139 injured · $8.8 million · F2 · 2 events
- Heat in Missouri, July 6 to 8, 20012 deaths · 37 events
- Lightning Strike in California, July 6, 20011 injured · $840,000 · 1 event
- Flash Flood in California, July 6, 2001$1.2 million · 1 event
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, July 6, 2001$250,000 · 65 kt wind · 1 event
- Damaging Wind in California, July 6, 2001$200,000 · 60 kt wind · 1 event
- Damaging Wind in Florida, July 6, 2001$150,000 · 1 event
- Lightning Strike in California, July 6, 2001$25,000 · 1 event
- Flood in California, July 6, 2001$25,000 · 1 event
- Flood in California, July 6, 2001$20,000 · 1 event
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, July 6, 2001$20,000 · 60 kt wind · 1 event
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Mississippi, July 6, 2001$15,000 · 0.75 in hail · 2 events
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: 5253376.