1 thunderstorm wind, 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.
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.
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 17, 3:15 PM PST, 25 minutes earlier.
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA 310 PM PDT WED JUL 17 2002 THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE MONSOON SHOWS UP VERY WELL ON THE CURRENT VISIBLE SATELLITE...WHERE THUNDERSTORMS FIRED UP ALONG THE CREST OF THE SIERRA NEVADA THIS AFTERNOON. THE ANVIL TOPS OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN DIRECTED TOWARD NEVADA...AN INDICATION THAT STEERING WINDS ALOFT ARE BLOWING FROM THE SSW. THE MECHANISM HELPING TO DRIVE THESE THUNDERSTORMS IS AN UPPER LEVEL LOW... ESTIMATED TO BE CENTERED JUST WEST OF THE BAY AREA ON CURRENT WATER VAPOR IMAGERY. THE MODELS TRACK THE UPPER LEVEL LOW SLOWLY EASTWARD ACROSS INTERIOR CENTRAL CA DURING THE NEXT 24 HRS...DURING WHICH TIME WINDS ALOFT WILL GRADUALLY BECOME MORE WESTERLY AND FINALLY PUSH THE BACK EDGE OF MONSOONAL MOISTURE EAST OF THE SIERRA. HOWEVER...AS THE LOW DRIFTS ONSHORE TONIGHT...THE MODELS DO FORECAST RATHER HEALTHY PVA ACROSS INTERIOR CA. THIS WARRANTS CONCERN THAT THERE WILL BE ENOUGH INSTABILITY AND ATMOSPHERIC LIFT TO KEEP TSTM ACTIVITY ALIVE OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS THRU AT LEAST THE EARLY PART OF TONIGHT...AND PERHAPS INTO WEE HOURS THURSDAY MORNING. HAVE DWINDLED POPS IN THE MTN ZONES AFTER THIS EVENING...HOWEVER...SWING SHIFT FORECASTERS WILL NEED TO MONITOR AND REASSESS IF TSTM ACTIVITY DOES NOT DIMINISH MUCH TONIGHT. AND IF THE 18Z MESO-ETA IS RIGHT...CONVECTION MAY NOT NECESSARILY BE CONFINED TO THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS TONIGHT. THIS PARTICULAR MODEL FORECASTS A MODEST INCREASE IN 700MB REL HUM OVER THE SOUTHERN AND EASTERN SJ VLY TONIGHT AS THE NOSE OF THE 300MB JET CUTS UNDERNEATH THE UPPER LEVEL LOW. ON THURSDAY...THE BEST CHANCE OF AFTN CONVECTION WILL BE NEAR THE SIERRA CREST WITH MESO-ETA FORECASTING CAPES APPROACHING 700 JOULES/KG AND LIFTED INDICES BETWEEN -2 AND -4. IN THE LOW LEVELS...THE MARINE LAYER HAS REMAIN ESSENTIALLY UNCHANGED SINCE THIS MORNING...AVERAGING ABOUT 1500 FT DEEP ON THE FORT ORD PROFILER. NEITHER HAS THERE BEEN ANY INCREASE IN ONSHORE FLOW THRU THE DELTA. SO A MARINE INTRUSION INTO THE SJ VLY TONIGHT WILL AGAIN BE TOO SHALLOW TO BRING ANY SIGNIFICANT COOLING. IN FACT...MOS GUIDANCE FORECASTS NO CHANGE IN 1000-500MB THICKNESSES OR LOWER BOUNDARY LAYER TEMPS IN THE SJ VLY DURING THE NEXT 24 HRS. WILL THEREFORE BUMP UP TEMPS FIRST TWO PERIODS IN VLY ZONES TO MATCH RECENT DIURNAL RANGES. WHILE THE MEDIUM RANGE MODELS LIFT THIS UPPER LEVEL LOW NORTHEASTWARD INTO THE NORTHERN ROCKIES FRIDAY...MOST ARE STILL SHOWING A WEAK TROUGH HANGING BACK OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC THRU THE WEEKEND. THIS SHOULD HAVE LITTLE IMPACT ON CENTRAL CA EXCEPT TO KEEP COASTAL AREAS COOL WITH CONTINUED ONSHORE FLOW WHILE TEMPS IN THE INTERIOR VALLEYS CONTINUE TO AVERAGE SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL. BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK... TEMPERATURES ARE LIKELY TO AVERAGE WELL ABOVE NORMAL AS A STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT BUILDS WESTWARD OVER CALIFORNIA FROM THE FOUR-CORNERS REGION. .HNX...NONE. DURFEE
The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 75 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:38 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
As denoted by radar signature, a strong thunderstorm cell likely provided heavy rainfall in a remote, sparsely populated area of the Tulare County Mountains during the late afternoon of the 17th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 2002
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: 5311388.