California, 2005Lightning Strike in California, July 28, 2005
July 28, 2005 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone
1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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
Open the live radar over this ground
- Deaths
- 2
- Injuries
- 7
- 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 Jul 28, 2:00 PM PST, 1 hour earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 28, 2:00 PM PST, 1 hour before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
300 PM PDT THU JUL 28 2005
.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...RIDGE AXIS HAS
MOVED INLAND WITH CENTER OF UPPER HIGH SHIFTING OVER THE CENTRAL CA
INTERIOR. ALTHOUGH SUBSIDENCE INVERSION WAS EVIDENT ON 12Z RAOBS...
CAP WAS WEAK AND WILL INTRODUCE LOW POPS FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF
EARLY EVENING THUNDERSTORMS OVER HIGHER MTN AND DESERT ZONES.
CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL WILL INCREASE OVER THE MTNS AND DESERTS
THURS-SAT AS HIGH REORIENTS OVER THE FOUR-CORNERS WITH FLOW ALOFT
BACKING TO THE SE. FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE CWA...RIDGE WILL
MAINTAIN DRY CONDITIONS THRU CWA WITH CLOUD COVER LIMITED TO DEBRIS
FROM ANY MTN/DESERT THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT THURS-SAT. CLOUD COVER
MAY ALSO OFFSET TEMPS A FEW DEGREES...OTHERWISE TEMP PROFILE ALOFT
WILL CONT TO SUPPORT READINGS SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL THRU SAT.
.LONG TERM...SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS
HAVE SOME DIFFICULTY AGREEING BEYOND THE WEEKEND. NOT ONLY BETWEEN
MODELS BUT FROM RUN TO RUN IN CERTAIN CASES...MOST NOTABLY THE GFS.
BUT THE KEY FEATURE CONTINUES TO BE THE STRONG UPPER HIGH WHICH
BEGINS THE PERIOD OVER THE FOUR CORNERS REGION. AN UPPER TROUGH IS
PROGGED TO BE OFF THE CANADIAN COAST AROUND 140W SAT PM. EXPECT THE
TROUGH AXIS TO MOVE OVER THE PACNW COAST EARLY NEXT WEEK...PERHAPS
WEAKENING THE RIDGE SLIGHTLY. JUST HOW MUCH SYNOPTIC COOLING IS A
TOUGH CALL AT THIS TIME. WILL LOWER TEMPS A FEW DEGREES BEGINNING
TUESDAY...BUT ARE TO REMAIN SLIGHTLY ABOVE SEASONABLE LEVELS.
GIVEN THE POSITION OF THE UPPER HIGH DRAWING SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE
NORTHWARD...WILL RETAIN THE SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR AFTN/EVE
CONVECTION OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERT THROUGH THE PERIOD.
HOWEVER...MUCH DEPENDS ON THE APPROACHING TROUGH AS TO TEMPS AND
POPS. SO WILL BE CONSERVATIVE AND MAKE LITTLE CHANGES TO AVOID A
FLIP FLOP.
&&
.AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST FOR ALL AREAS THROUGH AT
LEAST 00Z FRIDAY. REFER TO TAFS AT KMCE...KFAT...AND KBFL FOR
DETAILS.
&&
.HNX...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.
&&
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD /USE ALL LOWER CASE/
JSN/DCH
Lightning, Tulare
- When
- July 28, 3:00 PM PST
- Where
- Tulare County, 15 mi NE of Mineral King
- Deaths
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 7 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 36.220, -118.800 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning struck a group of camping Boy Scouts at the 10,700 foot elevation of Sandy Meadow 4 miles west of Mt. Whitney on the John Muir Trail on the 28th. There were 9 individuals struck in a tent that had been erected as shelter from the thunderstorm with one immediate fatality and another critically injured that expired the next day.
- Lightning
- A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Georgia, July 28, 20052 deaths · $1.1 million · 5 events
- Heat in Alabama, July 28, 20051 death · 1 event
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in South Carolina, July 28, 2005$450,000 · 65 kt wind · 2 events
- Lightning Strike in Tennessee, July 28, 2005$400,000 · 1 event
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, July 28, 2005$200,000 · 50 kt wind · 1 event
- Damaging Wind in Colorado, July 28, 2005$100,000 · 65 kt wind · 1 event
- Lightning Strike in South Carolina, July 28, 2005$65,000 · 1 event
- Damaging Wind in South Carolina, July 28, 2005$55,000 · 60 kt wind · 1 event
- Damaging Wind in Virginia, July 28, 2005$45,000 · 65 kt wind · 1 event
- Damaging Wind in Virginia, July 28, 2005$35,000 · 60 kt wind · 1 event
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, July 28, 2005$30,000 · 60 kt wind · 1 event
- Damaging Wind in Virginia, July 28, 2005$30,000 · 60 kt wind · 1 event
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: 5466622.