Wildfire in California, November 1 to 8, 2003

Name: Wildfire in California, November 1 to 8, 2003
Start: 2003-11-01T00:00
End: 2003-11-08T16:00
Location: California

November 1 to 8, 2003 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 wildfire, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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 Oct 31, 9:00 PM PST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 31, 9:00 PM PST, 3 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
900 PM PST FRI OCT 31 2003

.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...CURRENT GFS AND
ETA TAKE REMAINING PRECIP OUT OF THE AREA DURING THE NIGHT. PRECIP
AMOUNTS THUS FAR SHOW SCATTERED .1-.2 INCHES VALLEY AND LOWER
ELEVATIONS...AND ISOLATED .3 AMOUNTS IN THE SIERRA. SNOW LEVELS
CURRENTLY RUNNING 4-5K...AND RAWS DATA WOULD INDICATE 2-3 INCHES OF
SNOW. SO FAR...THE ONLY OFFICIAL SNOW REPORT HAS BEEN 1 INCH AT
FRAZIER PARK. ON SAT...POSSIBLY A LINGERING SNOW SHOWER OVER THE
SIERRA CREST...OTHERWISE PTCLDY AND DRY.

AFTER A BRIEF RESPITE...SAT NGT/SUN...MODELS SHOW NEXT SYS MOVING
INTO NORCAL LATE SUN. GFS NOT QUITE AS AGGRESSIVE WITH THE SYS...
KEEPING BEST ENERGY FARTHER NORTH. BUT IT STILL SHOWS AN ACTIVE
FRONTAL BAND MOVING THRU MON MORNING. HOWEVER...RATHER THAN HAVING A
FAIRLY HEAVY PRECIP BULLSEYE OVER THE REGION AS PREVIOUS
RUN...CONFINES MAJORITY PRECIP ACROSS NORCAL...SOUTH INTO THE SRN
SIERRA. PREVIOUS SHIFT WAS RELUCTANT TO GO HOG-WILD ON POPS SUN NITE
INTO MON...AND NEW GFS LOOKS LIKE THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA. CURRENT
FCSTS LOOK GOOD SO NO EVE UPDATE.

.LONG TERM...FOR TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...GENERAL AGREEMENT IN
MAINTAINING A BROAD POSITIVELY TILTED TROUGH OVER THE WESTERN U.S.
THROUGH THE PERIOD. THE DIFFICULTY FOR ANY PRECIPITATION THREAT
RESTS SOLELY WITH THE TIMING OF EACH SHORTWAVE MOVING THROUGH THE
BOTTOM OF THE TROF. ENERGY SUPPORTING ANY WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION
IS MINIMIZED AFTER MONDAY AND LIMITED TO THE NORTHERN END OF THE
FORECAST AREA. WITH LITTLE CHANGE IN HEIGHTS AND THICKNESSES AS TROF
LINGERS ALONG THE CALIFORNIA COAST TEMPERATURES SHOW ONLY SMALL
VARIATION FOR THE PERIOD. BEST APPROACH IS THE TRADITIONAL UNSETTLED
WEATHER. EXPECT PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES OVER THE VALLEY WITH SOME
OROGRAPHIC ENHANCEMENT IN THE SOUTHERN SIERRA IN A GENERAL WESTERLY
FLOW. TEMPERATURES BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS DUE TO THE TROF. KERN
DESERTS TO BE DRY BUT BREEZY.

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...SNOW ADVISORY ABOVE 4000 FEET FOR
THE SOUTHERN SIERRA...AND ABOVE 5000 FEET IN THE TEHACHAPIS.

&&

BINGHAM/GUDGEL

Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 31, 3:15 PM PST, 8 hours 45 minutes before

CAZ089>099-011300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
315 PM PST FRI OCT 31 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
INTERIOR.

.DAY ONE...TODAY.

SNOW ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SOUTHERN
SIERRA NEVADA AND THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS TONIGHT. REFER TO
SFOWSWHNX /WWUS46 KHNX/ FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

ELSEWHERE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

JSN

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, Tulare

When: November 1, 12:00 AM PST to November 8, 4:00 PM PST
Where: Tulare County, 14 mi E of Wilsonia
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates: 36.220, -118.800 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Kaweah-Kern Complex of fires was lightning ignited late in July (includes the Williams, West Kern, Giant, Slide Bluffs, Bubbs, West Clover, High Bridge, East Fork, West Timber, Tar Gap 1 and Gap 2, Fry Pan, Soda Springs, and Homers Nose Fires). These fires were allowed to burn for resource management purposes. Cost of fires accounted in earlier months. Total acreage assessed at 11,654 acres at the first of the month.

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

Every storm in California in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in California, November 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: 5371125.