Name: Heat in California, July 9 to 15, 2002
Start: 2002-07-09T15:30
End: 2002-07-15T20:00
Location: California

The toll

Deaths: 2
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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.

Strong high pressure over the Western United States coupled with subtropical moisture flowing northwestward into Central California produced near-record high temperatures, record high minimum temperatures, and Heat Index readings above 105F from the 9th through the 15th of the month. Humidities were elevated while temperatures reached over 100F in locations throughout the Central and Southern San Joaquin Valley during this period. As an example on one of the hottest days, the 11th, the highest temperatures included 108F at Lemoore, Bakersfield, and Taft, 109F at Fresno and Arvin, 110F at Delano, and 111F at Wasco. In other areas of California, Southern Oregon, and Nevada numerous high and low temperature records were set during this time period.

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 9, 2:30 PM PST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 9, 2:30 PM PST, 1 hour before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
330 PM PDT TUE JUL 9 2002

STRONG DOME OF HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT HAS SENT THE MERCURY SOARING
TODAY...AND WILL REALLY CRANK UP THE HEAT WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY.
VLLY AND MOUNTAIN TEMPS THIS AFTERNOON ARE CONTINUING TO RUN ABOUT
10 DEGF HIGHER THAN MON. THIS SHOULD ALLOW SJV TO JUST REACH THE
LOWER THRESHOLD OF HEAT ADVISORY CRITERIA LATE. PEAK 850 MB TEMPS
ARE PROGGED FOR WED NEAR 32 TO 34C...PUSHING THE HOTTER SAN JOAQUIN
VLLY SITES UP TO AROUND 110F...HOTTEST DESERT SITES TO AROUND 115F...
AND EVEN MOUNTAIN SITES AROUND 4000-5000 FOOT ELEVS NEAR 100-105F.
IN ADDITION TO CONTINUING HEAT ADVIS FOR SJV THROUGH THURS...WILL
RAISE HEAT ADVIS FOR FOOTHILLS AND LOWER ELEVS IN KERN MTNS.

BY THURSDAY THE RIDGE STARTS TO SHIFT NE AND BUCKLES AS A WNW MOVING
SHORT WAVE SLIDES UNDERNEATH IT INTO SO/CNTRL CA FROM AZ. THIS WAVE
IS FORECAST TO CARRY ALONG SOME HIGH CLOUDS AND DROP THICKNESSES
JUST SLIGHTLY...SO WILL INDICATE A SLIGHT DROP IN MAX TEMPS THURS.
HOWEVER THURS TEMPS WILL STILL BE QUITE HOT AND ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN
HEAT ADVISORIES.

STARTING FRI AND OVER THE COMING WEEKEND SOME HEAT RELIEF IS
EXPECTED WITH A RELATIVELY SLOW SYNOPTIC DECLINE IN TEMPS AS A
TROUGH APPROACHES THE PAC NW AND VARYING MID/HI CLOUDS HELP TO CUT
BACK DAYTIME INSOLATION SOMEWHAT. A WEAK MEAN TROUGH POSITION HOLDS
NEAR THE WEST COAST INTO THE FIRST HALF OF NEXT WEEK...WHICH
PROMISES TO KEEP TEMPS MORE MODERATED.

BEYOND THE HEADLINE TEMPERATURES...POPS IN MTNS ARE THE OTHER
FORECAST ISSUE. WAS AGAIN TEMPTED TO KILL VERY LOW POPS NEAR THE
SIERRA CREST FOR LT WED AFTN GIVEN PROXIMITY OF THE STRONG RIDGE
AXIS NEARBY...HOWEVER WILL MAINTAIN CONTINUITY/COORD THERE. THEN BY
THU/FRI INCREASING CHANCE FOR CONVECTION OVER HIER ELEVS OF OUR MTNS
AS THE HIGH SHIFTS OFF THE NORTHEAST AND ALLOWS SE FLOW ALOFT TO
OPEN THE DOOR TO SOME ADVECTION OF MONSOONAL MSTR. WILL ALSO
INTRODUCE SLGT CHANCE TSTMS FOR KERN DESERTS STARTING SAT WITH PSBL
ADVECTION OF DEEPER AND LOWER LEVEL MSTR TOWARDS SE CA DESERTS.
BY SUN MID-UPPER FLOW TURNS MORE S-SW...BUT GIVEN MSTR ADVECTION
PATTERN WILL KEEP BROADBRUSH CHANCES FOR CONVECTION ONGOING FOR THE
REMAINDER OF EXTENDED OTLK.

.HNX...HEAT ADVISORY FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN
       VALLEY...FOR THE FOOTHILLS OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA...
       AND FOR THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS
       THROUGH THURSDAY.

LAVIS

Event by event

4 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, W Central S.J. Valley

When: July 9, 3:30 PM PST to July 15, 8:00 PM PST
Where: W Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heat, E Central S.J. Valley

When: July 9, 3:30 PM PST to July 15, 8:00 PM PST
Where: E Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Deaths: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heat, Sw S.J. Valley

When: July 9, 3:30 PM PST to July 15, 8:00 PM PST
Where: Sw S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heat, Se S.J. Valley

When: July 9, 3:30 PM PST to July 15, 8:00 PM PST
Where: Se S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Heat, E Central S.J. Valley	2002-07-11	60	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct
Heat, E Central S.J. Valley	2002-07-12	65	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in California, July 2002

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: 5311383, 5311384, 5311385, 5311386.