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 Sep 3, 2:00 PM PST, 3 hours earlier.
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA 300 PM PDT WED SEP 3 2003 SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE SIERRA NEVADA AND KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. WEATHER RADAR INDICATES SOME THE STRONGER STORMS PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN ACROSS THE SIERRAS. AT THE MOMENT ADDITIONAL CELLS FORMING IN THE TEHACHAPIS AND KERN DESERTS. WITH THE STORM MOVEMENT TO THE NORTH...A FEW OF THE STORM MAY MOVE INTO THE FOOTHILLS AND SOUTHERN PARTS OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WITH THE LACK ANY FORCING MECHANISM TO SUSTAINED THE STORMS...EXPECT THE THUNDERSTORMS ACTIVITY WILL DIMINISH DURING THE EVENING. THERE IS SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN THE SHORT TERM MODELS ETA/NGM AND MOST OF THE GLOBAL MODELS. THE ETA MAINTAINS THE FOUR CORNERS HIGH INTO FRIDAY RESULTING IN A CONTINUE SOUTHERLY FLOW AND MID LEVEL MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY ACROSS THE CALIFORNIA INTERIOR. HOWEVER THE AVN PROGS THE OFFSHORE TROUGH OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST TO MOVE INTO NORTHERN CA LATE THURSDAY. THIS SCENARIO WILL RESULT IN A MORE OF A SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW BRINGING IN A DRIER AND MORE STABLE MARITIME AIRMASS. AN UPSTREAM SHORT WAVE IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC NEAR 135W MAY HELP KICK THE TROUGH OFF THE CA COAST TOWARDS THE NW. THUS PREFER THE MORE PROGRESSIVE SOLUTION OF THE AVIATION. WILL DECREASE PROBABILITIES TO SLIGHT CHANCES ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS THURSDAY. A STRONGER WESTERLY FLOW SHOULD MAINTAIN THE CONVECTIVE THREAT EAST OF THE SIERRA ON FRIDAY. A MORE SIGNIFICANT COOLING TREND TO START SATURDAY AS A STRONG UPPER TROUGH APPROACHES THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. FOR SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...MODELS SHOW WESTERLY FLOW PREVAILING OVER THE REGION...PROVIDING DRY WEATHER THROUGH THE PERIOD. THE QUESTION FOR THIS PERIOD WILL BE HOW COOL WILL TEMPERATURES GET. MEDIUM RANGE MODELS GENERALLY AGREE THAT A STRONG PACIFIC TROUGH SHOULD REACH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST SUNDAY. GFS AND ECMWF...ESPECIALLY GFS...ARE MOST AGGRESSIVE IN LOWERING HEIGHTS OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. GFS IS CONSIDERED A BIT TOO AGGRESSIVE AND FORECAST TEMPERATURES FOR THE EXTENDED PERIOD ARE THUS A BIT ABOVE MOS GUIDANCE. .HNX...SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA UNTIL 02Z... MV/JB
CAZ089>099-041230- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA 515 AM PDT WED SEP 3 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR. .DAY ONE...TODAY. THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TODAY...MAINLY IN THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA...THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS...AND THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS. THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL OVERSPREAD ALL OF THE CENTRAL INTERIOR TONIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA THURSDAY. NO OTHER SIGNIFICANT 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. SOWKO
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Albanita/Hooker Fire in Sequoia National Forest was lightning ignited on the 3rd. It burned 175 acres by the 30th as it was allowed to burn for resource benefits. No injuries were reported nor was any structure lost.
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, September 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: 5372412.