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 31, 1:50 PM PST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA 250 PM PDT THU JUL 31 2003 SIGNIFICANT VARIATION IN TEMPERATURE ACROSS THE CWFA WHERE PERSISTENT CLOUD COVER IS INHIBITING TEMPERATURE RISES ... PRIMARILY OVER THE CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND ADJACENT MOUNTAIN AREAS. SOUTH VALLEY...KERN MOUNTAINS...AND KERN DESERTS RECEIVING MORE HEATING AND CURRENT SHORT-TERM CONCERN IS DEVELOPING CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY THOSE AREAS. INTERESTING TO NOTE FRESNO IS IN CATCH-UP RACE TO REACH 100 DEG DAY DUE TO LINGERING CLOUDINESS. PER PREVIOUS DISCUSSION MOIST MONSOONAL MOISTURE IN SOUTHEAST WIND FLOW ALOFT PERSISTING THROUGH MID-DAY SATURDAY. HIGH PRESSURE PROGGED TO MOVE EASTWARD AS A TROF DEVELOPS IN THE EAST PACIFIC ON TUESDAY. VEERING OF THE WIND FLOW NOT TO BE FAST BUT DOES PICKUP SOME WESTERLY COMPONENT LATE SUNDAY. DRYING WILL BE SLOW. EXPECT MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS TO BE THE SLOWEST TO DRY THUS KEEPING THREAT OF AFTERNOON CONVECTION THOSE AREAS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AND EVEN THE NORTH PORTION OF CA ZN96...YOSEMITE AREA...ON SUNDAY. LOW PRESSURE WILL SET UP NEAR N40/W130 BY MONDAY MORNING. ESTABLISHED SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT TO FINALLY BRING DRYING MONDAY FOR ENTIRE CWFA. INSTABILITY INDICES STILL CONTINUE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER IN KERN DESERTS PER DISCUSSION THIS MORNING. SATELLITE IMAGERY AT POST TIME SHOWS CELLS FAR SOUTHEAST CORNER OF KERN COUNTY MOVING NORTHWEST WITH MORE TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT OF CONVECTION OVER KERN MOUNTAINS AND SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA. SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER SJ VALLEY LOCATIONS DUE TO UPPER FLOW MOVING CELLS OFF HIGHER TERRAIN AND OVER VALLEY. GUDGEL FOR THE EXTENDED FORECAST PERIOD MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...H5 LOW PROGGED TO REMAIN NEAR 40N/130W WITH RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE ALONG AZ/NM BORDER THROUGH THE PERIOD. WILL CONTINUE DRY CONDITIONS FROM PREVIOUS FCST AS GENERAL PATTERN OF SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT REMAINS IN PLACE ACROSS CWFA. EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO START NEAR SEASONAL NORMALS. GFS BRINGS WEAK SHORT WAVE AROUND THE LOW INTO EXTREME NORCAL MONDAY NIGHT... BRINGING A PUSH OF MARINE AIR INTO THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. ANOTHER WAVE IS TIMED FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT...BUT IS PROGGED TO MOVE ACROSS CENTRAL CA. THIS WILL RESULT IN FALLING HEIGHTS/THICKNESSES ACROSS ENTIRE CWFA FOR GOOD SYNOPTIC COOLING ALL AREAS. MENDENHALL .HNX...NONE.
CAZ089>099-011230- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 530 AM PDT THU JUL 31 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...THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS...AND THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. ANY OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY 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 national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Cooney Fire was ignited by lightning late in the afternoon of the 31st of July and eventually managed as a resource burn by late in August. There were no injuries with this fire and costs were unknown.
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: 5332500.