Damaging Winds in California, July 8, 2001

Name: Damaging Winds in California, July 8, 2001
Start: 2001-07-08T11:00
End: 2001-07-08T19:00
Location: California

July 8, 2001 · NWS HNX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Residual monsoon moisture over the higher terrain of the Southern Sierra Nevada enabled thunderstorms to develop over the higher terrain of the CWFA. Sierra Nevada Mountains.

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.

Residual monsoon moisture over the higher terrain of the Southern Sierra Nevada enabled thunderstorms to develop over the higher terrain of the CWFA. This day was not unusual but rather provided what a typical, active thunderstorm day was like over the S.Sierra Nevada Mountains. One notable exception about the day was the depth of the convection where WSR-88D radar showed thunderstorm tops in excess of 45,000 feet.

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 8, 8:30 AM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 8, 8:30 AM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
930 AM PDT SUN JUL 8 2001

MORNING VISIBLE PICS SHOWING FEW CLOUDS LINGERING OVER THE SOUTH END
OF THE CWA. SOME CUMULUS IS STARTING TO BUILD OVER THE SIERRA THIS
MORNING AND EXPECT FURTHER DEVELOPMENT THIS AFTERNOON. THEREFORE...
WILL REMOVE THE MORNING WORDING OF MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES AND LEAVE A
MENTION OF BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY THIS AFTERNOON.

MONSOONAL MOISTURE INFLUENCE STILL EVIDENT IN WATER VAPOR IMAGERY AND
12Z MORNING UPPER AIR SOUNDINGS. WATER VAPOR STILL MAINTAINS THE PLUME
OF MOISTURE FROM THE SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST. YET...WE HAVE LESS OF A DRY
SLOT SO CONDITIONS ARE MORE FAVORABLE OF CONVECTION THIS AFTERNOON.
WILL KEEP FLASH FLOOD WATCH GOING THIS MORNING FROM CURRENT UPPER AIR
ANALYSIS OF A SOUTHEAST FLOW. IN ADDITION...MODELS CONTINUE TO
INDICATE MOUNTAIN INSTABILITY WITH LI/S OF MINUS 4 TO MINUS 6.
FURTHERMORE...UPPER AIR SOUNDING INDICATE PRECIP WATER OF AN
INCH OR MORE FROM THE SAN DIEGO AND VANDENBERG OBSERVATIONS.

.HNX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FROM NOON UNTIL 9:00 PM TODAY FOR ZONES 95>99.

MOLINA

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, S Sierra Mtns

When: July 8, 11:00 AM PST to 7:00 PM PST
Where: S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY

Thunderstorm Wind, Tulare Cty Mtns

When: July 8, 11:00 AM PST to 7:00 PM PST
Where: Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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: 5253385, 5253386.