Name: Hail in California, July 21, 2004
Start: 2004-07-21T14:04
End: 2004-07-21T14:04
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 Reno, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 21, 1:45 AM PST, 12 hours 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 21, 1:45 AM PST, 12 hours 19 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
245 AM PDT WED JUL 21 2004

.SHORT TERM...
HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN US WILL CONTINUE EXPAND AND
STRENGTHEN THROUGH THE END OF THIS WEEK.  WINDS ALOFT WILL TO
LIGHTEN AS THE RIDGE MOVES OVER NEVADA. WESTERLY WINDS OVER THE
SIERRA CREST WILL STABILIZE THE TAHOE BASIN AND WESTERN PORTION OF
ZONE 71 THIS AFTERNOON.  REST OF THE FORECAST AREA IS FAIR GAME FOR
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH SOME INSTABILITY TODAY.  MID LEVEL
MOISTURE HAS INCREASED OVER THE LAST 24 HOURS...WITH PRECIPITABLE
WATER VALUES NEAR 0.75 INCHES.  THESE ARE PROGGED TO INCREASE OVER
MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH THE NEXT 48 HOURS.  WITH
YESTERDAYS FLASH FLOOD EVENT...HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE WITH THE
STRONG CONVECTIVE CELLS.  WITH THE LACK OF A DECENT TRIGGER TODAY
FEELING IS FLASH FLOOD THREAT IS MINIMAL...BUT NOT SOMETHING TO
COMPLETELY FORGET. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH
SATURDAY.  BRONG
&&

.LONG TERM...SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...
MEDIUM RANGE MODELS CONTINUED TO SHOW A GENERAL DRYING AND
STABILIZATION DURING THIS TIME FRAME WITH THE GFS/ECMWF BOTH
SUGGESTING A RETROGRESSION OF UPPER HIGH INTO THE EAST PACIFIC AND
CALIFORNIA AND ASSOCIATED WEAK WESTERLY FLOW OVER AREA. THE CANADIAN
SHOWED A LITTLE MORE TROUGHINESS WITH THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BEING A
SLIGHTLY MORE PRONOUNCED WESTERLY FLOW. WARMING ALOFT AND DRYING IN
THE LOWER TO MID LEVELS SUGGEST DRY CONDITIONS. WILL KEEP A REMOTE
MENTION OF THUNDERSTORMS ONE MORE AFTERNOON SUNDAY FROM EASTERN MONO
TO MINERAL COUNTY AND THEN DRY AFTERWARDS. EVEN THE UPPER LEVELS
SHOW LOW RH LEVELS SO WOULD EXPECT CLEAR/SUNNY TO BE THE OVERALL SKY
CONDITION. TEMPERATURES ABOVE NORMAL SUNDAY AND MONDAY WILL COOL A
DEGREE OR TWO BY MID WEEK. HOHMANN
&&

.REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...NONE.
CA...NONE.
&&

The radar

The Reno radar (KRGX), 132 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:06 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Alpine

When: July 21, 2:04 PM PST
Where: Alpine County, Woodfords
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.597, -119.821 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in California, July 2004

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: 5432056.