1 wildfire, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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.
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 23, 1:45 PM PST, 3 hours 25 minutes earlier.
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA 245 PM PDT WED JUL 23 2003 WSR88D BACK ON-LINE AFTER REPAIR AT THIS TIME OF POSTING. WILL NEED TO STILL MONITOR ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT PROBLEM OF A/C DUE TO CURRENT WARM SPELL. HIGH PRESSURE REMAINING CENTERED OVER SOUTHERN UTAH FOR SHORT TERM FORECAST PERIOD. RESULTING SE WIND FLOW CURRENTLY ADVECTING MONSOONAL MOISTURE OVER CWFA. AFTERNOON INSTABILITY AND MOISTURE PROVIDING SCATTERED THUNDERSHOWER ACTIVITY OVER HIGHER TERRAIN AND KERN DESERTS. THEN DUE TO WIND FLOW ADVECTING T-SHOWERS OVER ADJACENT FOOTHILLS AND EVEN EASTERN AND SOUTH PORTIONS OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. EXPECT T-SHOWER ACTIVITY TO DIMINISH AFTER SUNSET AND GRADUALLY CLEAR OVERNIGHT. MODELS CONTINUE TO MAINTAIN PERSISTENT SOUTHWEST U.S. HIGH AND ONSHORE PRESSURE GRADIENTS LIMITED TO ONLY COASTAL REGIONS. RELATIVELY FLAT P-GRADIENT IN INLAND SECTIONS WILL NOT FORCE COOLER AIR INTO INLAND SECTIONS. GOOD NEWS IS THAT SOME SYNOPTIC COOLING WITH 30M THICKNESS DROP OVER NEXT 48 HOURS. BAD NEWS IS THAT WITH TEMPERATURES WELL INTO THE TRIPLE DIGITS STILL EXPECT S-CENTRAL AND SOUTH S.J.VALLEY MAX TEMPERATURES TO REMAIN AT OR ABOVE 100F ... AND MAINTAINING WITH OTHER AREAS OF CWFA ABOVE NORMAL AS WELL. WHILE FLOW ALOFT DOES TURN VERY WEAKLY SOUTHERLY IN 24-48 HOURS AS THE ORIENTATION OF THE HIGH CHANGES ... TOTAL DRYING OF THE UPPER AIR IS NOT EXPECTED AND RESIDUAL MOISTURE STILL TO PROVIDE ENOUGH FUEL FOR CHANCE OF AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE CREST OF THE SOUTH SIERRA NEVADA FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AFTERNOONS. GUDGEL IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...UPPER LEVEL HIGH IS PROGGED TO BUILD BACK TO THE WEST SUNDAY AND MONDAY AND THE GFS DEVELOPS A LOW OVER THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA TUESDAY...SHIFTING THE LOW WESTWARD ON WEDNESDAY. THIS PATTERN IS VERY CONDUCIVE TO MONSOON MOISTURE TRANSPORT INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. WILL OPT TO STICK WITH THE CURRENT FORECAST BROAD BRUSH OF INCREASING CHANCES OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING CONVECTION...PEAKING OUT ON WEDNESDAY. WITH THE HIGH REMAINING/BUILDING OVER THE AREA...THE HEAT WILL ALSO CONTINUE. DUDLEY HNX...NONE.
CAZ089>099-241230- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA 530 AM PDT WED JUL 23 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR. .DAY ONE...TODAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND TONIGHT IN THE SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON AND THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE SIERRA FOOTHILLS...THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...AND THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE IS A CONTINUED CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AND TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. ALSO THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT IN THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS RETURNS TO THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AND TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS ON SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS ON TUESDAY FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Basin Fire was fought by Sequoia National Forest and burned 1002 acres. Its cause was unknown but there were no fatalities. One primary structure was lost in the fire.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 2003
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: 5367232.