Name: Hail in California, July 5, 2004
Start: 2004-07-05T16:40
End: 2004-07-05T16:40
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

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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 5, 1:30 PM PST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 5, 1:30 PM PST, 3 hours 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
230 PM PDT MON JUL 5 2004

.SHORT TERM...
CONVECTIVE CLOUDS HAVE DEVELOPED ALONG THE CENTRAL SIERRA FROM MONO
COUNTY TO SOUTH OF LAKE TAHOE THIS AFTERNOON. SATELLITE IMAGERY
SHOWS THE CLOUDS FORMING OVER THE CREST THEN MOVING TO THE EAST.
MOUNTAIN TOP SENSORS CONFIRM A WESTERLY FLOW ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT VERY
STRONG. THE THERMAL TROUGH IS SHIFTING INTO NV AS SHOWN BY THE WEST
WINDS AT TRUCKEE AND JUST DEVELOPING IN THE RENO AREA AT 230 PM.
WILL ADD ISOLATED EARLY EVENING THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA SOUTH OF
TAHOE BOTH TODAY AND TUESDAY AS THE OVERALL PATTERN REMAINS ABOUT
THE SAME. THE GFS SHOWS A VERY WEAK VORTICITY CENTER ALONG THE
SIERRA CREST NEAR MONO COUNTY THIS AFTERNOON...MOVING NORTH TOWARDS
TAHOE TUESDAY. THE ETA DOES NOT SHOW THIS FEATURE. WILL GO WITH THE
ETA ON THIS ONE AS IT IS DIFFICULT TO PICK THIS FEATURE OUT ON WATER
VAPOR IMAGERY. AN UPPER TROUGH BEGINS TO PUSH INTO THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST TUESDAY THEN MOVES INLAND WEDNESDAY. NOT MUCH EFFECT
TUESDAY ON THE CWA OTHER THAN A BIT MORE WIND IN THE FAR NORTH.
BREEZY CONDITIONS EXPECTED OVER MOST AREAS WEDNESDAY AS THE TROUGH
MOVES CLOSER. THE INCREASED WESTERLY FLOW WILL KEEP A DRY AIRMASS
OVER THE CWA FOR THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK...WITH TEMPERATURES COOLING
A FEW DEGREES EACH DAY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 80S TO UPPER 90S WESTERN
NV VALLEYS ON TUESDAY WILL DROP TO THE 80S BY THURSDAY. RC

.LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY...
IT LOOKS LIKE MODEL CONSENSUS IS STARTING TO COME AROUND TOWARDS THE
IDEA OF A WEAK...BAGGY COASTAL OR EPAC UPPER TROUGH FOR THE FIRST
HALF OF THE EXTENDED. FOR CONFIDENCE PURPOSES...IT IS GOOD TO SEE
THAT THE 12Z GFS IS COMING AROUND TOWARDS THE WEAKER...BAGGY TROUGH
SOLUTION ADVERTISED BY THE ECMWF. IN FACT...THE 12Z ECMWF IS TRYING
TO INDICATE AN EVEN WEAKER AND FURTHER WEST UPPER TROUGH IN THE
EPAC...WHICH WOULD BRING STRONGER SOUTHWEST WINDS ALOFT IN AND
SQUELCH OUT THE MONO AND MINERAL POPS WE HAVE IN AT THIS TIME. WITH
THE SMALL SCALE DETAIL OF THE UPPER TROUGH UNRESOLVED THIS FAR
OUT...I LEFT THE LONG RUNNING SLIGHT CHANCES FOR NOW AS WE WAIT FOR
BETTER/MULTIPLE MODEL RUN CONSISTENCY. SNYDER

&&

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

The radar

The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 192 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:39 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Mono

When: July 5, 4:40 PM PST
Where: Mono County, 3 mi N of Walker
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 37.939, -118.887 (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: 5431661.