1 wildfire, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 Jun 18, 1:15 PM PST, 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 215 PM PDT FRI JUN 18 2004 .SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...THE GOES WATER- VAPOR LOOP SHOWS THE UPPER-LEVEL VORTICITY MOVING ONSHORE OVER SOUTHERN MONTEREY AND NORTHERN SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTIES. THIS SYSTEM CONTINUES TO BRING BANDS OF MID- AND HIGH-LEVEL CLOUDS TO THE HANFORD WARNING/FORECAST AREA...INCLUDING THE CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA. THE 12Z MODELS WERE SLOWER WITH THIS VORTICITY THAN SATELLITE LOOPS SHOW. ALL THREE MODELS...ETA/NGM/GFS...HAD THE VORTICITY STILL OFFSHORE AT 18Z...AND BROUGHT IT INLAND FURTHER SOUTH THAN THE ACTUAL PATH. WITH THE VORTICITY COMING ACROSS KERN AND TULARE COUNTIES THIS AFTERNOON...THE FLOW ALOFT OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE SOUTHWEST. COMBINED WITH THE MID-LEVEL MOISTURE ADVECTED INTO THE REGION BY THE VORTICITY...THE FLOW WILL CAUSE OROGRAPHIC FORCING OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. THEREFORE... WILL KEEP A SLIGHT CHANCE OF EVENING THUNDERSTORMS IN THE FORECAST FOR TONIGHT. THE 12Z MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH A 500-MB RIDGE AMPLIFYING IN THE EAST PACIFIC AND EXTENDING NORTH TO THE ALASKAN PANHANDLE. AN UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH EXTENDS SOUTHWEST FROM A LOW OVER THE EASTERN NUNAVUT MAINLAND SOUTHWEST THROUGH THE CANADIAN PRAIRIE AND THE NORTHERN ROCKIES INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. A SHORT-WAVE IS DROPPING INTO THE TROUGH AND IS FORECAST TO DEEPEN THE TROUGH... PINCHING OFF THE RIDGE. BY 12Z SATURDAY...THE SOUTHERN COMPONENT OF THE RIDGE SETS UP A WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT OVER CALIFORNIA...BRINGING DRIER CONDITIONS TO THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AND TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS. HOWEVER...RIDGE AXIS REMAINS OFFSHORE THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH LINGERING 500-MB WEAKNESS OVER CALIFORNIA IN THE FORM OF A SHALLOW TROUGH. THE 12Z ETA AND GFS ARE RELATIVELY DRY AT BOTH THE 700-500-MB AND 500-300-MB LAYERS FOR SATURDAY AND SUNDAY...WITH LAYER RELATIVE HUMIDITIES MAINLY 50 PERCENT OR LESS. THEREFORE...WILL KEEP THE WEEKEND DRY WITH ONLY A FEW CLOUDS ALONG THE CREST. THE GFS DOES BRING SOME HIGH-LEVEL MOISTURE INTO THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR MONDAY... WITH 500-300-MB HUMIDITIES INCREASING TO 70+ PERCENT OVER THE SIERRA NEVADA...AND 700-500-MB HUMIDITIES OF 50-60 PERCENT. THUS...WILL GO WITH A BIT MORE CLOUDINESS OVER THE CREST MONDAY AFTERNOON. CONCERNING TEMPERATURES...THE 12Z MODELS FORECAST AROUND A 30-METER INCREASE IN 1000-500-MB THICKNESSES OVER INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA THROUGH 00Z SUNDAY BUT LITTLE CHANGE IN 850-MB TEMPERATURES OR 500-MB HEIGHTS /EXCEPT FOR THE ETA...WHICH RAISES HEIGHTS BY 30 METERS/. WILL GO WITH SLIGHTLY ABOVE PERSISTENCE. FOR SUNDAY...500-MB HEIGHTS DROP BY ABOUT 20 METERS OVER THE REGION AS WEAKNESS CONTINUES IN THE RIDGE OVER CALIFORNIA...BUT 1000-500-MB THICKNESSES ARE FORECAST TO RISE BY 10-20 METERS BY THE GFS...AND 20-30 METERS BY THE ETA. 850-MB TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST TO INCREASE BY 1-2 C. MODEL NUMERICAL GUIDANCE CALLS FOR 2-3 F WARMING FOR SUNDAY AND WILL FOLLOW THAT TREND. FOR MONDAY...THE GFS HAS LITTLE CHANGE IN 1000-500-MB THICKNESSES OVER THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...AND ONLY ABOUT A HALF DEGREE C WARMING AT 850 MB. 500-MB HEIGHTS ARE FORECAST TO FALL BY 20-30 METERS AS THE FLAT RIDGE GIVES WAY TO AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW APPROACHING 44N/140W. THE NEW RUN OF THE UKMET ALSO DROPS 500-MB HEIGHTS MONDAY. WILL GO WITH PERSISTENCE FOR NOW AS THE IMPACT OF THE APPROACHING LOW WILL MORE LIKELY BEGIN MONDAY NIGHT. .LONG TERM...FOR TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...LATEST MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE IN A LITTLE BETTER AGREEMENT FOR THE EXTENDED PERIOD. THE 12Z GFS RUN IS MORE INLINE WITH THE EARLIER ECMWF WHILE DEVELOPING A SLIGHTLY STRONGER RIDGE OVER THE INTER-MOUNTAIN REGION NEXT WEEK. ALTHOUGH THE GENERAL LOCATION OF AN OFFSHORE LOW WEST OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST VARIES CONSIDERABLY BETWEEN MODELS...THIS SYSTEM REMAINS OFFSHORE AND KEEPS HEIGHTS AND THICKNESS FROM BUILDING VERY STRONG OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. THIS WILL RESULT IN NEAR TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND DRY WEATHER WITH MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD. && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SANGER/GREISS
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The West Fire near Cameron Road at Tehachapi Willow Springs Road burned 550 acres before it was contained. There were no injuries or structures lost on this fire. The ignition type and cost were unknown.
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, June 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: 5406283.