Name: Hail in California, June 16, 2004
Start: 2004-06-16T14:45
End: 2004-06-16T15:00
Location: California

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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 Hanford, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 16, 1:20 PM PST, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 16, 1:20 PM PST, 1 hour 25 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
220 PM PDT WED JUN 16 2004

.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...HANFORD AND
EDWARDS AFB RADARS SHOW CONVECTION CONTINUING OVER MAINLY TULARE
AND KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS ARE OVER AND
JUST EAST OF THE CREST FROM TUOLUMNE MEADOWS TO DEVILS POSTPILE.
WITH THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW FROM THE WEST OR NORTHWEST, I EXPECT ALL OF
THE ACTIVITY TO REMAIN OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN, HOWEVER JUST HOW
FAR SOUTHWEST THE CONVECTION GETS OVER THE KERN MOUNTAINS IS A
LITTLE PROBLEMATIC AT THIS TIME. WILL OPT TO KEEP ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE KERN MOUNTAINS FOR THIS EVENING, BUT NOT
INCLUDE IN THE KERN COUNTY DESERT AS STORMS SHOULD HAVE A HARD TIME
HOLDING TOGETHER OVER THE VALLEY FLOORS. AS HAS BEEN THE CASE FOR
PAST FEW EVENINGS, SKIES SHOULD CLEAR LATER THIS EVENING AS THE
CONVECTION ENDS.  ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, GOOD MODEL AGREEMENT EXISTS
AND SHORT RANGE SOLUTIONS KEEP A WEAK TROUGH OVER THE AREA WITH
LITTLE CHANGE IN HEIGHTS AND TEMPERATURE PROFILES. AS FOR THE
THREAT OF SIERRA CONVECTION, NO HUGE CHANGE IN AIRMASS AND UPPER
LEVEL FLOW, HOWEVER ONE WOULD EXPECT SOME DRIER AIR ADVECTION IN
THE WESTERLY FLOW TO EVENTUALLY SHUT OFF THE CONVECTIVE THREAT. WILL
OPT TO KEEP THE CHANCES GOING THURSDAY AND AGAIN FRIDAY, BUT LEAVE
THINGS DRY ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON. SPEAKING OF SATURDAY, STILL
LITTLE CHANGE IN THE LATEST RUN OF THE GFS MODEL AS IT KEEPS THE
PERSISTENT VERY WEAK TROUGH OVER THE AREA.

.LONG TERM...FOR SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...00Z EXTENDED PROGS
INDICATED THE WEAK TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
DROPPING INTO THE GREAT BASIN SUNDAY WITH WEAK HIGH PRESSURE
BUILDING OVER CALIFORNIA MONDAY. HOWEVER THE 12Z GFS HOLDS THE LOW
ACROSS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WITH THE REMNANTS OF THE WEAK
TROUGHINESS OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA SHIFTING EASTWARD AND A RIDGE
OFF THE COAST. THE LOW THEN DROPS INTO NORTHERN NEVADA
MONDAY/TUESDAY WITH A RATHER BENIGN PATTERN OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA.
THIS WILL KEEP DRY WEATHER OVER THE CWFA SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY
WITH TEMPERATURES NEAR NORMAL.

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.

&&

DUDLEY/BEAN

Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 16, 2:42 PM PST, 3 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
342 PM PDT WED JUN 16 2004

CAZ095>099-171200-
KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-
TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-
SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
342 PM PDT WED JUN 16 2004

.DAY ONE...TODAY...

A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL EXIST THROUGH THIS
EVENING...WITH SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLY BECOMING
SEVERE. THE MAIN THREATS ARE HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN...WITH
FLASH FLOODING ALSO POSSIBLE. PLEASE SEE AWIPS HEADER
/SFOFLSHNX/ OR WMO HEADER /WGUS86 KHNX/ FOR DETAILS ON
LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING.

.DAY TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

CAZ089>094-171200-
WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS-TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS-
342 PM PDT WED JUN 16 2004

.DAY ONE...TODAY...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAY TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

BURGER

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Tulare

When: June 16, 2:45 PM PST to 3:00 PM PST
Where: Tulare County, 23 mi E of Johnsondale
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 35.967, -118.117

A public report provided information that 1-inch hail occurred from a thunderstorm crossing the Tulare-Inyo County line on the 16th. Large hail was observed in the Inyo County area north of Little Lake along Highway 395 just before 3 PM PST(estimated). Locally heavy rainfall rates estimated by NWS Radar ranged from 2.5 to 3 inches in an hour over the previously burned Manter Fire area of Tulare and Kern Counties.

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, June 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: 5406281.