Lightning Strikes in California, August 26, 2003

Name: Lightning Strikes in California, August 26, 2003
Start: 2003-08-26T00:30
End: 2003-08-26T07:30
Location: California

August 26, 2003 · NWS HNX · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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: 5

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.

Another surge of monsoonal moisture from the remnants of Hurricane Ignacio brought thunderstorm activity to the deserts and higher terrain of Interior Central California. With east to southeast wind flow aloft, thunderstorms developed and moved over the Central and Southern San Joaquin Valley early on the morning of the 26th. Many lightning strikes again occurred. Infrequently occurring, the Central San Joaquin Valley began taking lightning strikes by 0200 PST and continuing heavily from Mariposa County south through Madera County and west to Merced County through 0430 PST. Additional lightning activity began in earnest on the west side of Fresno County at 0430 PST with a pocket of lightning activity in the Bakersfield Metropolitan area near dawn. Over 300 lightning strikes occurred in the 6-county area of Interior Central California from 0400 to 0500 PST alone. Merced County fire crews responded to over 14 lightning-caused fires on the Valley floor and resulted in loss of power to over 3500 customers in the Merced/Atwater area.

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 Aug 25, 7:52 PM PST, 4 hours 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 25, 7:52 PM PST, 4 hours 38 minutes before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
852 PM PDT MON AUG 25 2003

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE KERN AND TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS
PRODUCED LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING
TODAY AS KHNX 88D STORM TOTAL PRECIPITATION INDICATES SOME LOCATIONS
MAY HAVE PICKED UP AN ESTIMATED 2.5 TO 4.0 INCHES OF RAINFALL.
ISOLATED REPORTS OF NUISANCE FLOODING NEAR JOHNSONDALE PROMPTED THE
ISSUANCE OF A SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY FOR THE TULARE AND KERN
COUNTY MOUNTAINS...BUT THE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE SINCE SUBSIDED. WILL
LET THE SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY EXPIRE AT 900 PM.

KHNX 88D CURRENTLY INDICATING SOME LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS NEAR THE SIERRA
CREST AND SOME POSSIBLE SPRINKLES OVER MERCED AND WESTERN FRESNO
COUNTY. 00Z MESO INDICATING DEEPER MOISTURE FROM A SUBTROPICAL
MOISTURE PLUME PUSHING INTO CENTRAL CA OVERNIGHT SO MENTION OF
ISOLATED TO SCATTERED POPS ACROSS THE CWFA LOOKS GOOD. INCREASED
CLOUD COVER SHOULD ALSO KEEP MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WELL ABOVE SEASONAL
NORMALS FOR LATE AUGUST. TEMPERATURES AND WINDS APPEAR TO BE ON
TARGET FOR TONIGHT SO NO UPDATES ARE PLANNED. TUESDAY/S FORECAST IS
TRICKY BASED ON THE AMOUNT OF MID/HIGH CLOUDS PROVIDED BY THE
ADVANCING SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE. FEWER CLOUDS WOULD ALLOW FOR
TEMPERATURES TO WARM UP MORE THAN EXPECTED TUESDAY WHICH WOULD
FURTHER DESTABILIZE THE ATMOSPHERE IN THE AFTERNOON. LATER SHIFTS
WILL NEED TO KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THIS. LATEST ETA/GFS INDICATE A S/W
TROUGH REACHES THE NORCAL COAST TUESDAY AFTERNOON WHICH SHOULD TURN
THE UPPER FLOW TO THE SOUTHWEST TUESDAY NIGHT WHICH WOULD PUSH THE
MONSOONAL MOISTURE EAST OF THE SIERRA CREST WEDNESDAY. WITH LESS
MOISTURE EXPECTED WEDNESDAY...DAYTIME TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE A BIT
WARMER. LOW CONFIDENCE IN THE FORECAST BEYOND WEDNESDAY BECAUSE THE
MODELS ARE HAVING DIFFICULTY HANDLING WHAT WILL REMAIN OF HURRICANE
IGNACIO WHICH IS CURRENTLY IN THE SOUTHERN GULF OF CA AND MOVING
SLOWLY WEST-NORTHWEST. MOISTURE FROM IGNACIO HAS THE POTENTIAL TO
PLAY A MAJOR ROLE IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD.

.HNX...NONE.

DS

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 25, 4:30 AM PST, 20 hours before

CAZ089>099-261230-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
530 AM PDT MON AUG 25 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
INTERIOR.

.DAY ONE...TODAY.

THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR EVENING THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE SAN
JOAQUIN VALLEY...THE SIERRA NEVADA FOOTHILLS AND THE SIERRA NEVADA
FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON. THERE IS A CHANCE FOR AFTERNOON AND
EVENING THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE KERN AND TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS AS
WELL AS THE SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT.

DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.

A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS ARE IN THE FORECAST TUESDAY
FOR...THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND THE SIERRA NEVADA FOOTHILLS. A
CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS ARE IN THE FORECAST TUESDAY FOR...THE KERN
COUNTY MOUNTAINS...THE SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS
CANYON...THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND THE SOUTHEASTERN KERN
COUNTY DESERT. AND ON WEDNESDAY A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS
ARE FORECASTED FOR...THE SIERRA NEVADA FOOTHILLS...THE KERN AND
TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS...THE SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON
AND THE SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

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

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Mariposa

When: August 26, 12:30 AM PST to 5:30 AM PST
Where: Mariposa County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.582, -119.905 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning, Merced

When: August 26, 1:00 AM PST to 5:30 AM PST
Where: Merced County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.192, -120.718 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning, Madera

When: August 26, 1:30 AM PST to 5:30 AM PST
Where: Madera County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.218, -119.763 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning, Fresno

When: August 26, 4:30 AM PST to 6:30 AM PST
Where: Fresno County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 36.758, -119.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning, Kern

When: August 26, 4:30 AM PST to 7:30 AM PST
Where: Kern County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 35.343, -118.730 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5332494, 5332495, 5332496, 5332497, 5332498.