California, 2003

Wildfire in California, August 1 to 31, 2003

August 1 to 31, 2003 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 wildfire, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

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.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

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 31, 8:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 8:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes before
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
930 PM PDT THU JUL 31 2003

VORTMAX THAT MOVED THRU THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON TRIGGERED TSTMS
WHICH PRODUCED FLASH FLOODING IN THE TEHACHAPIS LATE AFTERNOON.
RADAR RAIN ESTIMATES WERE IN THE 5-6 INCH RANGE JUST WEST OF
TEHACHAPI. OBSERVED DATA SHOWS 1-3 INCHES OCCURRED IN SPOTS. CHP
REPORTED PART OF HIGHWAY 58 CLOSED NEAR MILE MARKER 87 DUE TO A
MUDSLIDE. OTHERWISE...MUCH OF THE TSTM ACTIVITY ACROSS THE FA HAS
DIED OFF. NEW ETA SHOWS ANOTHER VORTMAX MOVING ACROSS THE AREA FRI
AFTERNOON FOR MORE MTN TSTMS. AS THE AREA WILL REMAIN IN A SE FLOW
ALOFT...SOME CHANCE OF ADDITIONAL TSTMS IN THE VALLEY...MAINLY SOUTH
END. WILL UPDATE SOUTH VALLEY ZONE TO INDICATE THIS. OTHERWISE SHORT
TERM FCST LOOKS GOOD.

.HNX...FLOOD WARNING FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS UNTIL 1130 PM.

BINGHAM
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 31, 4:30 AM PST, 19 hours 30 minutes before
CAZ089>099-011230-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
530 AM PDT THU JUL 31 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
INTERIOR.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER PORTIONS OF THE
SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA...THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS...AND THE CENTRAL
AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. ANY OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY
CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND BRIEF HEAVY
RAINFALL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 31, 9:33 PM PST, 2 hours 27 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY CA
1033 PM PDT THU JUL 31 2003

TIME(PDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0825 PM    TEHACHAPI                 CA   FLASH FLOOD
07/31/03   KERN                           THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCED
                                          HEAVY AMOUNTS OF RAIN...
                                          WITH OBSERVED VALUES OF
                                          OF 1-2 INCHES IN TOWN.
                                          RADAR ESTIMATES SHOWED
                                          ISOLATED 6 INCH AMOUNT
                                          JUST WEST OF TOWN.
                                          WESTBOUND HIGHWAY 58
                                          CLOSED NEAR MILE MARKER 87
                                          DUE TO MUD-SLIDE.
                                          OTHER RURAL ROADS CLOSED
                                          DUE TO FLOODING. NO
                                          INJURIES REPORTED FROM
                                          EVENT.

BINGHAM

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Mariposa

When
August 1, 12:00 AM PST to August 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where
Mariposa County, 2 mi N of Yosemite Vlg
Reported by
PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates
37.582, -119.905 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Duncan Complex continued to burn through the month as a resource burn within Yosemite National Park.

What these are

Wildfire
A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in California, August 2003

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: 5372410.