1 lightning, 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 Reno, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 2, 1:40 PM PST, 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV 240 PM PDT FRI JUL 2 2004 .SHORT TERM... ETA DEFINITELY HAD A BETTER HANDLE ON TODAY SO WILL FOLLOW IT FOR TOMORROW AND SUNDAY. EXPECT ISOLATED...PULSE TYPE THUNDERSTORMS INTO THIS EVENING MAINLY ALONG THE SIERRA CREST. CELLS STILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO DUMP BRIEF HEAVY RAIN BUT THE THREAT APPEARS DIMINISHED AS NE FLOW IN THE MID LEVELS SHEARING THE STORMS APART. UPPER LOW MOVES ACROSS THE COLORADO RIVER AND INTO EASTERN ARIZONA SATURDAY. AGAIN EXPECT ISOLATED PULSE TYPE STORMS FROM MONO COUNTY TO MINERAL COUNTY AND THE BASIN AND RANGE. WEAK WAVE DROPS INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. ETA HAS SOME WEAK INSTABILITY FROM THIS ALONG THE OREGON BORDER AND WE WILL RETAIN A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THE RENO-CARSON CITY AREA AS WELL. SUNDAY WE SEE THE RIDGE BUILD IN FROM THE PACIFIC AND MOST CONVECTION SHOULD BE CAPPED. WE WILL RETAIN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE USUAL H7 CONVERGENCE BOUNDARY ALONG HIGHWAY 50. IT APPEARS FOR THE MOST PART THAT JULY 4TH WILL BE DRY WITH SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES AND TYPICAL AFTERNOON NORTHWEST BREEZES. WINDS SHOULD NOT BE UNUSUALLY STRONG OR CREATE ANY REAL PROBLEMS FOR FIREWORKS SHOWS. MONDAY LOOKS TO BE A CARBON COPY OF SUNDAY WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AN AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORM IN THE SOUTH...OTHERWISE DRY AND SEASONABLY WARM. SG .LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... PATTERN TUESDAY FEATURES A WEAK UPPER LOW OFF CA COAST WITH A STRONGER TROUGH MOVING INTO PACIFIC NW. SFC THERMAL TROUGH REMAINS OVER CA. SRN MONO AND SRN MINERAL COUNTIES THE ONLY AREA WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTN TSTMS DUE TO MARGINALLY UNSTABLE LI...SOME LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE...AND MID LEVEL MOISTURE. BY WEDNESDAY GFS TRENDING TOWARD STRONGER WLY FLOW AS PACNW TROUGH DEEPENS AND CA LOW WEAKENS. BY THUR PACNW TROUGH AXIS SWINGS ACROSS NORTHERN NV WHICH WILL RESULT IN A COOLER WINDIER DAY FOR TAHOE AND AREAS NORTH AND EAST. FRIDAY UPPER FLOW WEAKENS CONSIDERABLY. WILL KEEP CONDITIONS FOR WED THRU FRIDAY DRY PER PREVIOUS FORECAST. TEMPS REMAIN NEAR OR A LITTLE BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS FOR EARLY JULY. JAH && .REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NV...NONE. CA...NONE. &&
The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 192 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:57 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A man was struck by lightning while walking on the outskirts of Mammoth Lakes. He was injured with burns to his waist, arm, and leg. He spent the night in the hospital and was released the next day.
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: 5431660.