Wildfire in California, August 1 to 11, 2006

Name: Wildfire in California, August 1 to 11, 2006
Start: 2006-08-01T00:00
End: 2006-08-11T00:00
Location: California

August 1 to 11, 2006 · NWS MFR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Sage fire, which was started by lightning in late July, was contained on 08/11/06. It burned 4855 acres.

Where it happened

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

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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 happened

The episode as NWS MFR wrote it up.

The Sage fire, which was started by lightning in late July, was contained on 08/11/06. It burned 4855 acres. Funds expended to contain the blaze was unknown.

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 Medford, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 31, 7:00 PM PST, 5 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 7:00 PM PST, 5 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
800 PM PDT MON JUL 31 2006

.DISCUSSION...00Z NGM/ETA IN.

SOME ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER
LAKE AND MODOC COUNTIES...THEY SHOULD BE DISSIPATING ANY TIME NOW.

AN UPPER TROUGH NOW OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WILL DEPART THE AREA
TONIGHT...AND A FLAT RIDGE WILL BUILD FROM THE SOUTH...BRINGING
ZONAL FLOW ALOFT TO THE AREA.  500 MB HEIGHTS WILL INCREASE
THROUGH TUESDAY.  THE 31/12Z GFS BROUGHT A SHORT WAVE THROUGH
WEDNESDAY...BUT THE 01/00Z NGM/NAM HAS NO SUCH FEATURE.  EXPECT
WARMER AND DRY CONDITIONS TUESDAY WITH MARINE STRATUS ALONG THE COAST
AND MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES ELSEWHERE. IF THE 31/12Z GFS VERIFIES...
WEDNESDAY WILL SEE AN ONSHORE MARINE PUSH...AND OVERNIGHT LOW CLOUDS
AND FOG WILL SPREAD OVER MOST OF THE WEST SIDE WEDNESDAY NIGHT.  IF
THE 01/00Z NGM/NAM VERIFIES...WEDNESDAY WILL BE WARMER THAN TUESDAY
WITH NO MARINE PUSH.  THE CURRENT FORECAST ASSUMES THE LATTER
SCENARIO.

.EXTENDED DISCUSSION FROM MONDAY AFTERNOON AFD...THURSDAY THROUGH
SUNDAY...ANOTHER WEAK UPPER TROUGH WILL APPROACH THE REGION LATE
THURSDAY. MODELS HAVE BEEN CONSISTENT WITH THIS FEATURE OFF THE COAST
OF OREGON AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FOR THE PAST SEVERAL RUNS.
HOWEVER...THE LAST TWO GFS AND ECMWF RUNS HAVE SHOWN A CLOSED LOW
DEVELOPING OFF THE COAST OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA ON LATE THURSDAY INTO
FRIDAY WITH THE UPPER LOW MOVING INLAND FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY. GIVEN
THE UNCERTAINTY HAVE KEPT HIGH TEMPERATURES NEAR SEASONAL AVERAGES ON
FRIDAY WITH TEMPERATURES DECREASING A DEGREE OR TWO ON SATURDAY. AS
THE TROUGH MOVES INLAND...MAY SEE A CHANCE FOR CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY
WITH UNSTABLE CONDITIONS DEVELOPING OVER PORTIONS OF THE AREA. THE
AMOUNT OF MOISTURE WILL BE THE MAIN QUESTION. HAVE RAISED POPS TO 10
PERCENT OVER THE CASCADES AND HIGHER TERRAIN ON THE EAST SIDE BUT
HAVE KEPT POPS BELOW CRITERIA FOR THUNDERSTORMS FOR NOW. ONCE THE
TROUGH MOVES OUT OF THE AREA LATE SUNDAY...THE GFS MODEL INDICATES A
RETURN TO AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WITH WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS.

&&

.AVIATION...REDUCED VISIBILITIES IN SMOKE OVER SOUTHWEST SISKIYOU
COUNTY...OTHERWISE VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED INLAND FOR THE NEXT
24 HOURS.  ALONG THE COAST...VFR CONDITIONS INITIALLY...BUT
WIDESPREAD LATE NIGHT THROUGH EARLY MORNING MVFR CIGS WILL DEVELOP
ALONG WITH ISOLATED IFR IN FOG. HIGHER TERRAIN WILL BE OBSCURED.

&&

.MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...

OR...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS...FLORENCE OR TO CAPE
          BLANCO OR 0-60 NM THROUGH 11 PM MON.
     SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS...CAPE BLANCO OR TO OR/CA
          BORDER 0-60 NM THROUGH LATE TONIGHT.
     SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR SEAS...CAPE BLANCO OR TO OR/CA
          BORDER 0-60 NM THROUGH 11 PM MON.

CA...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS...OR/CA BORDER TO PT ST
          GEORGE CA 0-60 NM THROUGH LATE TONIGHT.
     SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR SEAS...OR/CA BORDER TO PT ST
          GEORGE CA 0-60 NM THROUGH 11 PM MON.

&&

STOCKTON

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Modoc County

When: August 1, 12:00 AM PST to August 11, 12:00 AM PST
Where: Modoc County forecast zone
Reported by: OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates: 41.590, -120.725 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

See below.

What these are

Wildfire: A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in California, August 2006

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: 5525130.