Lightning Strikes in California, July 30, 2003

Name: Lightning Strikes in California, July 30, 2003
Start: 2003-07-30T10:00
End: 2003-07-30T11:45
Location: California

July 30, 2003 · NWS HNX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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Wind
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Fire, smoke and dust
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Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

A west-to-east line of convection developed over the Kings-Tulare-Kern County line through the Southern San Joaquin Valley by 11 AM PDT on the 30th. Monsoonal moisture aloft from the east in combination with high surface heating brought lightning over the southwest portion of Tulare County in and around Delano. Over the next couple of hours the line slowly translated north with a center of lightning activity ending at Corcoran in Kings County around 1 PM PDT.

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 30, 8:30 AM PST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 30, 8:30 AM PST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
930 AM PDT WED JUL 30 2003

MONSOON WELL IN PLACE THIS MORNING AS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVE
THROUGH THE CWFA. DOPPLER RADAR SHOWING MUCH OF THE ACTIVITY OVER
THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE DISTRICT WITH A FEW ISOLATED CELLS MOVING
THROUGH THE NORTHERN HALF. PRECIP VALUES REMAIN LOW...EVEN WITH A
MORE TROPICAL AIRMASS STREAMING THROUGH THE AREA...AS MOST
REPORTING STATIONS CAME IN WITH READING OF LESS THAN A TENTH OF AN
INCH. ONE FACTOR BEING THAT THE AIRMASS COLUMN REMAINS WARM TODAY...
AND NOT ALLOWING THE LOWER LEVELS TO GET WELL SATURATED. THIS
MORNINGS AND YESTERDAY AFTERNOONS SOUNDING FROM DESERT ROCK AND
EDWARDS AFB...UPSTREAM...SHOWED AN INVERTED-V PROFILE WITH A WEAK
LOWER LEVEL WIND PROFILE. THEREFORE...DOWNBURST POTENTIAL A BIGGER
FACTOR THAN HEAVY RAIN THIS AFTERNOON. LOOKING AT THE BIGGER
PICTURE...WATER VAPOR AND RUC ANALYSIS SHOWING THE HIGH OVER LOW...
REX BLOCK PATTERN...WITH A STRONG EASTERLY FLOW OVER THE DISTRICT.
RUC DID PICK UP ON A VORT MAX...IN-PHASE WITH THE SATELLITE
ENHANCEMENT...THAT MOVED THROUGH THE CWFA LAST NIGHT. THIS PIECE OF
ENERGY ALLOWED THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TO CONTINUE OVERNIGHT AND
IS NOW PUSHING OFFSHORE. WILL EXPECT A LITTLE RELIEF THIS MORNING AS
THE NEXT VORT MAX EXPECTED TO MOVE IN BY 4:00 PM TODAY. NO UPDATED
NEEDED AT THIS TIME AS SITUATION HANDLED WELL WITH CURRENT FORECAST
PACKAGE.

.HNX...NONE.

MOLINA

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 30, 4:30 AM PST, 5 hours 30 minutes before

CAZ089>099-311230-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
530 AM PDT WED JUL 30 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 AND THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS TODAY. THERE ALSO
EXISTS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR. ANY OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY CONTAIN
GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

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 ON THURSDAY. NO OTHER 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 18:00 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Tulare

When: July 30, 10:00 AM PST to 11:45 AM PST
Where: Tulare County, 9 mi SSE of Earlimart
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 36.220, -118.800 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning, Kern

When: July 30, 10:00 AM PST to 10:15 AM PST
Where: Kern County, Delano
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 35.343, -118.730 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning, Kings

When: July 30, 11:45 AM PST
Where: Kings County, Corcoran
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 36.075, -119.815 (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, 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: 5367220, 5367222, 5367221.