1 lightning, 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 30, 2:10 AM PST, 1 hour 19 minutes earlier.
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA 310 AM PDT WED JUL 30 2003 TROPICAL-LIKE WEATHER PATTERN CONTINUES THIS MORNING. RADAR CONTINUES TO SHOW DEVELOPING ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER KERN COUNTY...WHERE A VERY WARM AND HUMID ATMOSPHERE IS IN PLACE. DEW POINTS ARE IN THE 60S OVER THE SJV AND THE 50S TO LOWER 60S OVER THE KERN DESERTS. WITH A VERY DEEP MOIST LAYER OVER THE ENTIRE AREA...MESO OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES AS WELL AS EMBEDDED VORTICITY CENTERS ARE KEEPING THE CONVECTION GOING. THE IDEAL SET UP REMAINS SYNOPTIC-ALLY FOR MONSOONAL CONVECTION AS THE UPPER HIGH IS STALLED OVER NORTHWEST NEVADA AND A LOW IS CENTERED NEAR 30/130W. A WEAK VORTICITY CENTER IS NOTED OVER SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOVING WEST. WITH LITTLE CHANGE SUGGESTED IN THE MODELS TODAY FOR PATTERN CHANGE...EXPECT ANOTHER SIMILAR DAY OVER THE ENTIRE AREA FOR CONVECTION AND CONTINUED WARM TO HOT TEMPERATURES. SPEAKING OF TEMPERATURES...BAKERSFIELD HAS TIED THE ALL TIME WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE OF 86 DEGREES ON JULY 29. HAVE UPPED FORECAST MAX TEMPERATURES FOR TODAY OVER THE ENTIRE AREA...EFFECTIVELY PUSHING BACK BY A DAY THE DROP BELOW 100 DEGREES AT MOST LOCATIONS. CLOUD COVER AMOUNTS WILL BE THE KEY TO JUST HOW HOT IT GETS. HAVE STUCK WITH SUB 100 READINGS FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY HOWEVER AS MODEL GUIDANCE STILL SUGGESTS THE PATTERN TO BEGIN BREAKING DOWN. THE PERSISTENT ANTICYCLONE OVER NORTHWEST NEVADA IS PROGGED TO WEAKEN AND SHIFT EAST INTO THE ROCKIES BY FRIDAY MORNING WHILE THE UPPER LOW WELL SOUTH OF SAN DIEGO MOVES UP THE COAST. THIS SCENARIO LOWERS HEIGHTS AND SLOWLY...VERY SLOWLY SHIFTS THE EASTERLY FLOW ALOFT TO SOUTHEAST AND THEN THE SOUTH/SOUTHWEST. THIS SHOULD DECREASE CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY...ESPECIALLY ON FRIDAY. FOR THE EXTENDED FORECAST PERIOD SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... LATEST MEDIUM RANGE MODELS IN FAIR AGREEMENT. MOST PROGS INDICATE THAT THE UPPER LEVEL HIGH OVER THE GREAT BASIN WILL BUILD SE TOWARD THE FOUR CORNERS AREA. THIS WILL ALLOW AN UPPER TROUGH TO MOVE THROUGH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA SATURDAY. THERE SHOULD BE PLENTY OF MONSOONAL MOISTURE AHEAD OF THE TROUGH TO CONTINUE TO FUEL ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS INTO THE VALLEY AND MOUNTAINS. THE STORM THREAT SHOULD BECOME ISOLATED AND LIMITED MAINLY TO THE MOUNTAINS SUNDAY AS THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW TURNS SOUTHWEST. THIS WILL START TO BRING A PACIFIC MARITIME AIR INTO THE AREA. MOST OF THE MODELS INDICATE A STRONGER WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL DEVELOP MONDAY AS A DEEPER UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE APPROACHES THE CALIFORNIA COAST. THIS COULD BRING A SIGNIFICANT COOLING TREND BY TUESDAY AS THE TROUGH MOVES OVER CALIFORNIA DEEPENING THE MARINE LAYER. THE STRONGER ONSHORE FLOW SHOULD EASILY BRING THE COOL MARINE AIR INTO THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. .HNX...NONE. DUDLEY/MV
CAZ089>099-301230- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 530 AM PDT TUE JUL 29 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...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY THERE IS SLIGHT RISK OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE ENTIRE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR. .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 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A lightning strike on a house in Northwest Bakersfield caused damage from fire. There were numerous lightning strikes in Kern County during the early morning hours of the 30th, including tens of strikes in the Bakersfield Metropolitan area.
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: 5367313.