Lightning, Tulare
- When
- December 5, 4:48 PM PST
- Where
- Tulare County, 2 mi SW of Visalia
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 36.220, -118.800 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in California, December 5, 2003
1 lightning, 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
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 Dec 5, 3:09 PM PST, 1 hour 39 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 5, 3:09 PM PST, 1 hour 39 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA 309 PM PST FRI DEC 5 2003 .SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FOR THE NEXT 36 HOURS. SECOND BAROCLINIC ZONE OF THE DAY MOVING ONSHORE WITH LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS FOR CENTRAL S.J.VALLEY AND STEADY LIGHT RAIN/SNOW IN S.SIERRA THIS EVENING. MINIMAL SOUTHWARD PUSH BEYOND TULARE COUNTY AS FRONT GENERALLY PARALLEL TO UPPER FLOW UPON REACHING AREA. SNOW LEVELS DROPPED TO 7000 FEET ALREADY VICINITY YOSEMITE AND CONTINUING TO LOWER SLOWLY OVER NEXT 36 HOURS AS THICKNESSES DROP UNTIL TROF PASSAGE BY EARLY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. SNOW LEVELS ULTIMATELY REACHING 5500 FEET EARLY SUNDAY. GFS MODEL-OF-CHOICE AS COMPROMISE BETWEEN SLOWER..DEEPER ETA AND SHALLOWER..FASTER EURO MODELS. BEST VERTICAL VELOCITIES LATE SATURDAY FOR NORTHERN ZONES WHICH IS STILL AHEAD OF COLDEST AIR. HOWEVER PER NMC DISCUSSIONS AND RIVER FORECAST CENTER ADVICE OROGRAPHIC INFLUENCE STILL GOOD FOR SOUTH SIERRA BEYOND TIME OF BEST DYNAMICS SATURDAY EVENING. THEREFORE WILL ISSUE WINTER STORM WARNING FOR ZN96 TO BE ISSUED FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON INTO SUNDAY FOR SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OVER 12 INCHES IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN. CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY TOTAL RAIN ACCUMULATIONS TO VARY BETWEEN 1/4 TO 1/2 INCH WITH A RAPID DROP OFF SOUTH OF A COALINGA-VISALIA LINE FOR THE SOUTH VALLEY. LINGERING SHOWERS OVER THE MOUNTAINS WELL INTO SUNDAY WITH RAPID DECREASE IN VALLEY RAIN AFTER MID-MORNING SUNDAY. TROF PASSAGE SUNDAY AFTERNOON WILL PROVIDE A COOL BUT DRY NORTHWEST FLOW OVER INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY. SURFACE RIDGING DEVELOPS BEHIND THE CURRENT TROF SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY. SOME TEMPERATURE RECOVERY MONDAY AS SKIES CLEAR AFTER MORNING FOG. GUDGEL .LONG TERM...FOR TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...MEDIUM RANGE PROGS ARE BECOMING IN BETTER AGREEMENT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...THEN DIVERGE SIGNIFICANTLY THURSDAY WITH AN UPSTREAM EAST PACIFIC UPPER LEVEL TROUGH. MODELS BUILD AN AMPLIFY A SHORT WAVE RIDGE ALONG THE WEST COAST TUESDAY. THIS WILL PROVIDE A WARMING TREND ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS...BUT THE VALLEY MAY REMAIN ON THE COOLER SIDE DUE TO THE THREAT OF DENSE FOG AND LATE DAYTIME CLEARING. BOTH EURO AND GFS INDICATE THAT THE RIDGE WILL BEGIN TO BREAK DOWN TUESDAY AS AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH APPROACHES THE PAC NW AND SPREADS INCREASING MOISTURE OVER CENTRAL CA. THE 12Z GFS BRINGS DEEPER MOISTURE INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AND PROGS AROUND HALF AN INCH OF LIQUID PRECIPITATION INTO THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING. HENCE WILL INCREASE THE PROBABILITY OF PRECIPITATION IN THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE CWFA TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY AND SPREAD THE THREAT OF RAIN FURTHER SOUTH INTO THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY TUE NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. DRYING TREND FOR FRIDAY AS THE GFS BUILDS A S/W RIDGE OVER CA. MV && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE PARK TO KINGS CANYON SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. ...SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS FROM KINGS CANYON TO THE KERN COUNTY LINE SATURDAY EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. &&
Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 5, 5:00 AM PST, 11 hours 48 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 500 AM PST FRI DEC 5 2003 CAZ096-061400- SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON- 500 AM PST FRI DEC 5 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON. .DAY ONE...TODAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY A WINTER STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE /WWUS46 KHNX/ FOR DETAILS. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED MONDAY THOUGH THURSDAY AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. CAZ089>095-097>099-061400- WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS-TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS- KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY- SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 500 AM PST FRI DEC 5 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...THE SIERRA NEVADA FOOTHILLS...THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS...AND THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. .DAY ONE...TODAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY 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.
The radar
The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 75 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:50 UTC.
Event by event
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Winter Storm in Maryland, December 5 to 6, 2003
- Winter Storm in Ohio, December 5 to 6, 2003
- Storm Surge and Winter Storm in Massachusetts, December 5 to 7, 2003
- Winter Storm in Pennsylvania, December 5 to 6, 2003
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in New Jersey, December 5 to 6, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, December 5 to 6, 2003
- Blizzard and Heavy Snow in New York, December 5 to 7, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, December 5 to 6, 2003
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, December 5 to 6, 2003
- Winter Weather in Virginia, December 5 to 6, 2003
- Winter Storm in Pennsylvania, December 5 to 6, 2003
- Storm Surge and High Surf in New Jersey, December 5 to 6, 2003
More
Every storm in California in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 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: 5332373.