Name: Wildfire in California, September 1 to 30, 2003
Start: 2003-09-01T00:00
End: 2003-09-30T23:59
Location: California

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 Aug 31, 7:20 PM PST, 4 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 7:20 PM PST, 4 hours 40 minutes before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
820 PM PDT SUN AUG 31 2003

MINOR UPDATES THIS EVENING TO REMOVE THUNDERSTORM WORDING FROM
FOOTHILL AND SIERRA ZONES AS THE CONVECTION APPEARS TO BE OVER FOR
THE NIGHT. UPPER LEVEL LOW CONTINUES TO CHUG EVER SO SLOWLY EAST IN
THE VICINITY OF LAKE TAHOE THIS EVENING AND WITH SUNDOWN THE
THUNDERSTORMS EARLIER ALONG THE CREST HAVE DISSIPATED OR MOVED EAST
INTO NEVADA. SOME CLOUDS CONTINUE ALONG THE CREST AND WITH THE
CENTER OF THE LOW ONLY SLOWLY MOVING EAST...THE THREAT OF
ADDITIONAL THUNDER REMAINS OVER THE HIGH COUNTRY....BUT ONLY AT A
SLIGHT CHANCE LEVEL. OVER THE REST OF THE AREA SKIES REMAIN
GENERALLY CLEAR. THE SPEED OF EXIT OF THE NORCAL LOW WILL BE THE
DRIVING FACTOR IN THE WEATHER OVER THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SIERRA
FOR THE NEXT 6-18 HOURS. THE MORNING MODELS ALL WERE IN PRETTY GOOD
AGREEMENT IN WEAKENING THE LOW OVERNIGHT AND ACTUALLY EJECTING A
TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN...WHILE LEAVING A
WEAK VORTICITY CENTER OVER THE BAY AREA. THE 00Z MESO ETA AGREES
WITH THIS PROJECTION. BY LABOR DAY AFTERNOON GOOD CONSENSUS AMONG
MODEL SOLUTIONS IN FINALLY EJECTING THE REMAINS OF THE VORTICITY
CENTER AND BUILDING A STRONG HIGH PRESSURE CENTER WESTWARD FROM
ARIZONA. THIS WILL UNDOUBTEDLY TURN THE MID AND UPPER LEVEL WINDS
TO THE SOUTHEAST. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS QUITE A GOOD FETCH OF
MOISTURE OVER NORTHERN MEXICO AND THIS SHOULD ADVECT INTO SOUTHERN
AND CENTRAL CALIFORNIA MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. EXPECT TUESDAY TO
HAVE PROBABLY THE BETTER THREAT FOR CONVECTION AS MOISTURE WILL BE
MUCH MORE PLENTIFUL. CURRENT FORECAST HAS THE TREND OF INCREASING
CHANCES AND AERIAL COVERAGE OF THUNDER FOR MONDAY AND TUESDAY
HANDLED WELL.
.HNX...NONE.

DUDLEY

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 31, 4:45 AM PST, 19 hours 15 minutes before

CAZ089>099-011230-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
545 AM PDT SUN AUG 31 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
INTERIOR.

.DAY ONE...TODAY.

THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS FOR
THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA...MAINLY NORTH OF KINGS CANYON.
THUNDERSTORMS MAY CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND
VERY HEAVY RAINFALL.

DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

THERE IS A CHANCE FOR AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY
THROUGH WEDNESDAY FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA...THE KERN COUNTY
MOUNTAINS...AND THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS. THUNDERSTORMS MAY CONTAIN
GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL.

A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL LINGER OVER HIGHER ELEVATIONS
OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA ON THURSDAY...OTHERWISE NO HAZARDOUS
WEATHER IS EXPECTED THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

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

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: September 1, 12:00 AM PST to September 30, 11:59 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 were essentially started July 28th and allowed to continue to burn as resource fires through the month of September. Fires within this complex included Williams, West Kern, Giant, Slide Bluffs, Bubbs, West Clover, High Bridge, East Fork, West Timber, Tar Gap 1, Tar Gap 2, Fry Pan, Soda Springs, and Paradise 2. Acreage burned: 5790 acres in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park; 2245 acres in the Sequoia National Forest; and, 435 acres in the Inyo National Forest. As of September 30th, the cost was $530.2K.

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

More

Every storm in California in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in California, September 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: 5372406.