California, 2004

Drought in California, September 1 to 26, 2004

September 1 to 26, 2004 · NWS HNX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

The March through May 2004 time period was the 2nd driest on record for the South-Central portion of California as determined by rainfall for the Kern County Mountains and Tulare County Mountains of the Southern Sierra Nevada. Below normal for all of the Southern Sierra Nevada rivers, the Kern River April through July snow melt was only 48% of normal determined by the inflow to Lake Isabella…

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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 happened

The episode as NWS HNX wrote it up.

The March through May 2004 time period was the 2nd driest on record for the South-Central portion of California as determined by rainfall for the Kern County Mountains and Tulare County Mountains of the Southern Sierra Nevada. Below normal for all of the Southern Sierra Nevada rivers, the Kern River April through July snow melt was only 48% of normal determined by the inflow to Lake Isabella Reservoir. The previous six California Water Years (July through June) have averaged only 81% of normal precipitation. The dry conditions for the 6-year period were actually much worse as 5 of the years averaged approximately 70% of normal rainfall.

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 Aug 31, 8:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 8:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
930 PM PDT TUE AUG 31 2004

.SHORT TERM...HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE PATTERN CONTINUES TO DOMINATE AS
THE DISTRICT SEES LITTLE TEMPERATURE CHANGE THIS EVENING. VALLEY
TEMP/S RUNNING A DEG-F ABOVE OR BELOW THAT OF YESTERDAY. THEREFORE...
WILL NOT EXPECT TO MAKE ANY CHANGES THIS EVENING FOR THE SHORT TERM
PERIOD OF THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. WITH SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS FROM
SFO TO LAS NOW AT AROUND 6.0MB...WILL EXPECT EVENING WINDS TO REMAIN
UP AROUND 10 MPH OVER THE VALLEY AND DIMINISH DURING THE EARLY
MORNING HOURS. CURRENT FORECAST ON TRACK WITH OBSERVED DATA...SO NO
UPDATES NEEDED IN THE WINDS. WHILE LITTLE CHANGE IS EXPECTED
OVERNIGHT...THE MAIN CONCERN WILL BECOME THE NEXT FEW DAYS. MODELS
SHOWING NO ADDITIONAL HEIGHT RISES ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.
THEREFORE...WILL EXPECT AFTERNOON TEMP/S TO REMAIN NEUTRAL WITH
VALUES NEAR THOSE OF TUESDAY AFTERNOON. AFTERWARD...MODELS NOW
SHOWING A SLIGHTLY DEEP TROF TIMED FOR THURSDAY. ALL SHORT RANGE
MODELS INDICATING 40 TO 60 METERS OF HEIGHT FALLS BY THURSDAY
AFTERNOON. THIS COULD TRANSLATE IN GOOD COOLING FOR THE THURSDAY
TIME FRAME. FOR NOW...ABOUT A 5 DEG-F DROP FROM WEDNESDAY TO
THURSDAY WILL WORK AS AN INDICATION OF A POSSIBLE COOL DOWN LATER IN
THE WEEK. IN ADDITION...WILL SEE AN INCREASE IN WINDS DURING TROF
PASSAGE. FORECAST PACKAGE HANDLING WIND SITUATION WELL AND WILL
MAINTAIN CURRENT WORDING.

&&

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

&&

MOLINA

Event by event

3 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Kern Cty Mtns

When
September 1, 12:00 AM PST to September 26, 11:59 PM PST
Where
Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by
UTILITY COMPANY

Drought, Tulare Cty Mtns

When
September 1, 12:00 AM PST to September 26, 11:59 PM PST
Where
Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by
UTILITY COMPANY

Drought, E Central S.J. Valley

When
September 1, 12:00 AM PST to September 26, 11:59 PM PST
Where
E Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

What these are

Drought
A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in California, September 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: 5422816, 5422817, 5422818.