Lightning sparked several wildfires in southwest Sisikiyou County on 07/23/06. Some of these fires became known collectively as the Happy Camp Complex.
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.
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 episode as NWS MFR wrote it up.
Lightning sparked several wildfires in southwest Sisikiyou County on 07/23/06. Some of these fires became known collectively as the Happy Camp Complex. As of 08/08/06, the blaze burned 3757 acres and 4.5 million dollars were spent on the fire fighting efforts. No structures were lost, but a helicopter picking up water from a local river crashed, killing two people onboard. Estimated containment date is 09/01/06.
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 23, 7:50 AM PST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR 850 AM PDT SUN JUL 23 2006 .DISCUSSION... THE HEAT WAVE CONTINUES TODAY WITH AN ALMOST CARBON COPY OF YESTERDAY IN STORE. MONSOONAL MOISTURE FLOWING AROUND THE EDGE OF THE HIGH WILL ADVECT OVER EASTERN HALF OF THE CWA AGAIN AND WITH AFTERNOON HEATING WILL BUILD INTO THUNDERSTORMS. SISKIYOU COUNTY COULD SEE MORE ACTIVITY THAN YESTERDAY BUT MODOC...KLAMATH... AND LAKE COUNTIES LOOK TO BE IN THE THICK OF IT AGAIN. RIDGE BEGINS TO RETREAT TO GREAT BASIN MONDAY AS A WEAK TROF BEGINS TO DEVELOP OFFSHORE. THIS WILL BEGIN A COOLING TREND WEST OF THE CASCADES. WEAK TROF MOVES ONSHORE TUESDAY WITH A MODERATE MARINE PUSH ASSOCIATED WITH IT. UMPQUA BASIN CERTAINLY LOOKS TO COOL DOWN NICELY BUT ROGUE VALLEY COULD SEE SOME DECENT COOLING ALSO. THE RIDGE RETURNS WEDNESDAY AND STRENGTHENS A BIT ON THURSDAY. LOOKS LIKE A MINI HEAT WAVE AS RIDGE IS NOT QUITE AS STRONG ALONG WITH A WEAK SOUTHWEST FLOW. STILL...MEDFORD WILL PROBABLY REACH TRIPLE DIGITS AGAIN ON THURSDAY. && .AVIATION...IFR CONDITIONS ALONG THE COAST THROUGH MID MORNING...OTHERWISE VFR. INLAND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP AFTER 19Z ALONG AND EAST OF THE CASCADES WITH A FEW DEVELOPING IN THE SISKIYOUS. && .MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .OR...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WIND AND SEAS FLORENCE TO CA BORDER. .CA...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WIND AND SEAS CA BORDER TO PT ST GEORGE. && 11
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
1114 AM PDT SUN JUL 23 2006
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1113 AM EXCESSIVE HEAT 4 NNE HILT 42.06N 122.60W
07/23/2006 M100 F JACKSON OR TRAINED SPOTTER
YESTERDAYS TEMPERATURE
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BUNKERThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
See below.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 2006
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: 5521426.