Name: Wildfire in California, July 20 to 31, 2003
Start: 2003-07-20T16:00
End: 2003-07-31T23:59
Location: California

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 20, 2:33 PM PST, 1 hour 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 20, 2:33 PM PST, 1 hour 27 minutes before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
333 PM PDT SUN JUL 20 2003

SUNNY SKIES PREVAIL OVER THE VALLEY...WITH CUMULUS BUILDUPS OVER THE
SIERRAS AND KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS. A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
HAVE DEVELOPED OVER THE CRESTS FROM NEAR KINGS CANYON NORTHWARD.
LARGE HIGH PRESSURE AREA OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN US WILL CONTINUE TO
INFLUENCE OUR WEATHER FOR AWHILE. THE HIGH IS PROGGED TO STAY
GENERALLY IN PLACE FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS...WITH A SERIES OF IMPULSES
ROTATING UNDERNEATH. THE PATTERN WILL MEAN GENERALLY HOT AND HUMID
CONDITIONS...WITH AT LEAST ISOLATED AFTERNOON AND EVENING CONVECTION
OVER THE SIERRAS. THE TIMING AND STRENGTH OF THE PASSING SHORTWAVES
WILL DETERMINE WHETHER CONVECTIVE COVERAGE IS MORE EXTENSIVE. AS PER
HPC GUIDANCE...THE GFS SCENARIO WHICH TRACKS A VORTMAX OVER SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA TUESDAY LOOKS QUESTIONABLE...AND FORECAST WILL MAINTAIN
JUST THE ISOLATED MOUNTAIN CONVECTION. TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE RATHER
PERSISTENT...REMAINING A FEW DEGREES ABOVE CLIMO.

FOR THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS IN FAIR AGREEMENT
THROUGH FRIDAY. PROGS KEEP THE LARGE HIGH PRESSURE CENTER OVER THE
SOUTHWESTERN CONUS UNTIL THURSDAY. THIS WILL MAINTAIN THE SOUTHEAST
UPPER LEVEL FLOW AND CONTINUE TO BRING THE MONSOONAL MOISTURE INTO
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. WARM DIURNAL TEMPERATURES SHOULD DESTABILIZE THE
ATMOSPHERE DURING THE AFTERNOON FOR ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE
HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRAS THROUGH THURSDAY. THE
UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WEAKENS BY FRIDAY AS A COUPLE OF UPPER LEVEL SHORT
WAVES MOVE THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW
SHOULD BECOME SOUTHWEST AND BRING BACK THE DRIER AND MORE STABLE
MARITIME PACIFIC AIR. THE 12Z GFS RAPIDLY REBUILDS THE UPPER HIGH IN
THE SOUTHWEST SATURDAY AND AMPLIFIES IT NWD WELL INTO BRITISH
COLUMBIA BY SUNDAY. THIS PATTERN WOULD BRING BACK THE HEAT INTO
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. HOWEVER THE GFS HAS NOT SHOWN GOOD RUN TO RUN
CONSISTENCY AND THE CANADIAN AND EURO SOLUTIONS DO NOT INDICATE THIS
OVER AMPLIFIED RIDGING. HENCE WILL MAINTAIN TEMPERATURES NEAR
PERSISTENCE.

HNX...NONE.

JEB/MV

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 20, 4:30 AM PST, 11 hours 30 minutes before

CAZ089>099-211230-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
530 AM PDT SUN JUL 20 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
INTERIOR.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

THERE IS A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS AT THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE
SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE SIERRA FOOTHILLS, AND THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

THERE IS A CONTINUED CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE HIGHER
ELEVATIONS OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY
NIGHT. ALSO THERE IS A CHANCE FOR ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS TUEDAY AND
TUESDAY EVENING IN THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS AND MOUNTAINS.

.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

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Mariposa

When: July 20, 4:00 PM PST to July 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Mariposa County, 25 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 Kibbee Complex Fire was lightning started on July 20th approximately 18 miles northeast of Miwok Village in the NW corner of Yosemite National Park. The fire eventually was managed as a resource burn as it continued into the month of August. No injuries occurred and the cost of this fire was assessed at $20,000.

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 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in California, July 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: 5333725.