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 Sep 3, 8:29 AM PST, 3 hours 31 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 929 AM PDT FRI SEP 3 2004 SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...CLASSIC EARLY FALL PATTERN AS EAST PACIFIC RIDGING DROVE A WELL DEFINED TROF SOUTHEAST INTO THE GREAT BASIN JUST EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA OVERNIGHT. DELAYED ONSHORE PUSH OF COOLER AIR INTO THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND KERN DESERTS FINALLY REFLECTED IN 24-HOUR CHANGE WITH TEMPERATURES DOWN 6 TO 11 DEGREES. HIGHER ELEVATION TEMPS REFLECTING THE LOWER HEIGHTS AND THICKNESSES ASSOCIATED WITH TROF PASSAGE. HIGH AMPLITUDE RIDGING ALONG THE WEST COAST ALREADY PROVIDING NORTHERLY FLOW ALOFT. OFFSHORE PRESSURE GRADIENTS RESULTING WITH HIGH PRESSURE AT THE SURFACE OVER THE GREAT BASIN...RENO-SACRAMENTO GRADIENT ALREADY IN EXCESS OF 4MB. AS SURFACE HEATING OCCURS NORTH FLOW ALOFT TO MIX TO SURFACE. ISSUING SHORT-TERM FORECAST FOR GUSTY NORTH WIND ON WEST SIDE OF VALLEY. ONSHORE GRADIENTS OVER KERN DESERTS ALREADY DECREASING SO DO NOT EXPECT ANY PARTICULAR WIND PROBLEMS THERE. WITH WEAKER GRADIENTS BY TONIGHT EXPECT ALL AREA WIND SPEEDS TO BACK OFF. WILL ADJUST GRIDS TO REFLECT TEMPS IN VALLEY DOWN ANOTHER 1 TO 2 DEGREES BUT STILL WITHIN CURRENT FORECAST RANGE. TODAY WILL BE COOLEST DAY GOING INTO HOLIDAY WEEKEND. WILL ALSO ADJUST WIND GRIDS TO BE SLIGHTLY HIGHER TODAY ON WEST SIDE OF VALLEY. TEMPERATURE RISES OVER THE LABOR DAY WEEKEND AS HEIGHT INCREASES AND SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS DIMINISH AFTER TODAY. ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES FOR FORECAST AREA BY SUNDAY AND FOR LABOR DAY MONDAY. GUDGEL LONG TERM... PER PREVIOUS DISCUSSION FOR THE TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE CENTERED OFFSHORE DOMINATES THE PATTERN THROUGH THURSDAY WITH A SLIGHTLY WARMER OFFSHORE FLOW TENDENCY FOR THE CWA. SANGER && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. &&
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Bear Fire 5 miles south of Mariposa burned 416 acres and 5 structures (damage figure estimated). The cost to suppress this human origin fire was $1.4M. No fatalities or injuries occurred.
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, September 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: 5426013.