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 12, 8:25 AM PST, 2 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 925 AM PDT MON JUL 12 2004 .UPDATE...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...SATELLITE LOOPS SHOW CLEAR SKIES ACROSS THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR THIS MORNING AS THE UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE REMAINS OVER THE STATE. TEMPERATURES THIS MORNING ARE RUNNING 2-4 DEGREES OVER SUNDAY MORNING...WITH MUCH OF THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY ON TRACK TO BE AROUND 100. MINOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THIS MORNING/S 12Z MODEL RUNS AND THOSE FROM 12Z SUNDAY MORNING. THE SYNOPTIC PATTERN REMAINS ROUGHLY THE SAME...WITH AN UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH DIGGING DOWN 136W...AND AN EAST-COAST TROUGH EXTENDING SOUTH INTO THE CAROLINAS. THESE TROUGHS BRACKET THE RIDGE...WHICH IS NOW FORECAST TO AMPLIFY MORE NORTH- SOUTH AND IN THE MODEL SOLUTIONS 24 HOURS EARLIER. AS A RESULT... THE MODELS NOW FORECAST LITTLE CHANGE IN 500-MB HEIGHTS TO SLIGHT HEIGHT FALLS THROUGH 00Z TUESDAY. IMPACT ON TEMPERATURES FOR TODAY WILL BE MINIMAL...AND DO NOT PLAN ANY CHANGES TO THE FORECAST AT THIS TIME. LONGER-TERM FORECAST CONCERN THIS MORNING IS THE POSSIBILITY OF MONSOONAL MOISTURE MOVING INTO THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE HANFORD WARNING/FORECAST AREA AS EARLY AS WEDNESDAY. THE MODELS ARE FORECASTING THE AIRMASS BELOW 700 MB TO REMAIN FAIRLY DRY...AND ONLY MODERATE /65 PERCENT OR LESS/ HUMIDITIES ABOVE 700 MB THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING THIS FAR NORTH. THE ETA HAS BEEN HINTING AT A FASTER TIMING OF THIS MOISTURE...AND MAY NEED TO INTRODUCE SOME SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS WITH THE AFTERNOON PACKAGE. .FROM PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... .SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...OTHER THAN SOME SMOKE FROM THE GATOS FIRE NEAR COALINGA...SKIES AREA ABOUT AS CLEAR AS THEY GET OVER THE FORECAST AREA. EXPECT THIS TO BE THE CASE AGAIN TODAY AS THE VERY DRY SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS SOME MID LEVEL MOISTURE OVER SONORA AND ARIZONA TO A LESSER EXTENT AND THIS MAY BECOME A FACTOR IN THE LONGER RANGE FORECAST...BUT NOT FOR THE NEXT 3 DAYS OR SO. AS FOR TODAY AND TUESDAY...EXPECT SIMILAR CONDITIONS AS SUNDAY WITH THE RIDGE OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST PROGGED BY THE SHORT RANGE MODELS TO HOLD STEADY. WILL HAVE TEMPERATURES UP A DEGREE OR SO EACH DAY BUT REALLY LITTLE CHANGE AT ALL. ON WEDNESDAY...THE GFS MODEL BUILDS THE RIDGE A LITTLE FURTHER WEST...RAISING HEIGHTS BY 20 METERS OR SO. IN ADDITION...THIS LATEST RUN OF THE GFS BRINGS THE NORTHERN MEXICO MOISTURE TO THE NORTHWEST INTO SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA. IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE JUST HOW MUCH OF THIS MOISTURE ARRIVES AND IF ANY CONVECTION DEVELOPS OVER THE MOUNTAINS? WILL KEEP SOME AFTERNOON CLOUDS IN THE GRIDS FOR WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...BUT KEEP OUT THE MENTIONING OF ANY THUNDER. .LONG TERM...FOR THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE BEGINNING TO HINT OF A NORTHERLY SURGE OF MONSOONAL MOISTURE IN THE 4 TO 7 DAY PERIOD. OVERALL SYNOPTIC PATTERN REMAINS FAVORABLE FOR THIS TO HAPPEN BY THU NIGHT OR FRIDAY WITH 50H RIDGE CENTERED OVER THE FOUR-CORNERS REGION AND FLOW ALOFT GENERALLY SOUTHERLY. WHILE TROPICAL MOISTURE WILL BE PRESENT ACROSS MEXICO...IT IS UNCERTAIN AS TO HOW MUCH OF THIS RICH MOISTURE GETS TAPPED AND HOW FAR NORTH IT WILL GET LATER THIS WEEK. THE CANADIAN GLOBAL SUGGESTS THAT IT COULD ARRIVE IN KERN CO BY THU EVE OR NIGHT. THE GFS BRINGS SOME MID LEVEL MOISTURE UP INTO CENTRAL CA FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING TROUGH OVER THE PAC NW. ULTIMATELY...THIS WOULD LEAD TO THE POSSIBILITY OF ISOLD TSTMS OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS BY FRIDAY. IN COORDINATION WITH ADJACENT WFO/S...HAVE DECIDED TO WAIT FOR ANOTHER RUN OR TWO OF THE MODELS BEFORE COMMITTING TO THIS IDEA. OTHERWISE...TEMPS AVERAGING ABOVE NORMAL THRU THE PERIOD. AN INCREASE IN MID LEVEL MOISTURE BY THE END OF THE WEEK WOULD CURB MAX TEMPS BUT ALSO RAISE HUMIDITY. && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SANGER/DUDLEY/DURFEE
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Peterson Fire burned only 73 acres near Shaver Lake but it cost $856K to fight. There were no injuries nor were any structures reported as lost.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 2004
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: 5405923.