Wildfire and Lightning Strike in California, June 27 to 30, 2006

Name: Wildfire and Lightning Strike in California, June 27 to 30, 2006
Start: 2006-06-27T12:19
End: 2006-06-30T23:59
Location: California

June 27 to 30, 2006 · NWS HNX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

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.

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Wind
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Heat and drought
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Fire, smoke and dust
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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 Round Mountain Blaze approximately 14 miles southwest of Ridgecrest was a lightning initiated fire in the afternoon on the 28th and burned 30 acres before containment. The Smith Fire 6 miles southeast of Onyx, east of Lake Isabella in the Kern County Mountains, was lightning initiated on the 27th. Further information is available in the July Stormdata Report. Another lightning-initiated fire occurred in Grapevine Canyon northwest of Inyokern the evening of the 28th that only burned a small area before being extinguished.

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 Jun 27, 7:20 AM PST, 4 hours 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 27, 7:20 AM PST, 4 hours 59 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
820 AM PDT TUE JUN 27 2006

.UPDATE...AN EXTENSIVE MID AND HIGH CLOUD SHIELD IS OVER THE
FORECAST AREA THIS MORNING WITH LOTS OF CONVECTIVE DEBRIS. WATER
VAPOR SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS THE UPPER LOW SPINNING ABOUT 200
MILES SOUTHWEST OF SAN DIEGO WHILE AN ANTICYCLONE IS NOTED OVER
NORTHWEST ARIZONA. THIS IS CAUSING A PRONOUNCED SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW
OVER THE FORECAST AREA WITH A CONTINUED INFLUX OF MOISTURE. EXPECT
ANOTHER DAY OF ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING AND EDWARDS 13Z MODIFIED SOUNDING SHOWS LIFTED INDEX
TO -5 AND CAPE TO AROUND 1500 J/KG. CONVECTIVE TRIGGER TEMPERATURE
IS AROUND 95 DEGREES AND THIS SOUULD EASILY BE MET, EVEN IF THE
CLOUD COVER HANGS TOUGH. I EXPECT SOME THINNING OF THE CLOUDS THUS
THE SUN SHOULD BE ABLE TO HEAT THINGS UP ENOUGH FOR CONVECTION
INITIATION. OVER THE SIERRA AND KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS, SHOULD SEE
NEW CONVECTION BY AROUND NOON AND BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON, MAY SEE
SOME THUNDER DRIFT INTO THE SAN JOUQUIN VALLEY. CURRENT POPS AND
FORECAST LOOK JUST FINE. AS FOR TEMPERATURES, AGAIN THE KEY TO
ACHIEVING THE FORECAST MAXES IS CLOUD COVER. NO UPDATES TO THE
GRIDS THIS MORNING.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... (ISSUED 300 AM PDT TUE JUN 27 2006)

SHORT TERM...STRONG UPPER RIDGE THAT HAS SAT OVER THE REGION THE
PAST SEVERAL DAYS...IS FCST TO SLOWLY MIGRATE TOWARD THE 4-CORNERS
AREA THE NEXT 3 DAYS. MONSOON MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THE RIDGE
WILL CONT TO FEED INTO CA TODAY AND WED BRINGING THE THREAT OF
THUNDERSTORMS. WHILE WATER VAPOR PIX SHOW A FAIRLY DEEP LAYER OF
MOISTURE...IT REMAINS RELATIVELY HIGH BASED BETWEEN H7 AND H5 THIS
MORNING. MODELS SHOW A FAIRLY RAPID LOWERING OF THE LAYER LATER
THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT AS A WAVE CURRENTLY MOVING INTO
SOCAL/NRN BAJA LIFTS NW. THIS WAVE SHOULD ALSO HELP INCREASE TSTM
ACTIVITY TODAY...ESPECIALLY MTNS AND DESERT...AND STILL CANT RULE
OUT A STRAY TSTM IN THE VALLEY LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONITE. WED
WILL LIKELY BE MOST ACTIVE DAY AS DEEPER MOISTURE BASE LOWERS TO
NEAR H85 WITH LI/S -2 TO -5. BY THURS...AS THE UPPER RIDGE NEARS
THE 4-CORNERS WILL BEGIN SHIFTING TOWARD THE SW WITH DECREASING
TSTM THREAT AS DEEPER MOISTURE BEGINS SHIFTING FATHER EAST. TEMPS
WILL CONT TO BE INFLUENCED BY CONVECTIVE DEBRIS NEXT 3 DAYS BUT IN
GENERAL...LIKELY TO BE LOWER THAN GUIDANCE IN THE DAY...AND HIGHER
AT NIGHT.

LONG TERM...THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY...PROGS REMAIN CONSISTENT
AT KEEPING AN UPPER RIDGE OVER THE FOUR CORNERS REGION THROUGH THE
PERIOD. 00Z GFS/ECWMF/GEM ALL INDICATE AN UPPER S/W PUSHING INTO THE
PAC NW EARLY IN THE PERIOD WHICH WILL TURN THE UPPER FLOW OVER
CENTRAL CA TO THE SOUTHWEST THURSDAY NIGHT. AFTER SOME RESIDUAL
CONVECTION OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND KERN DESERTS THURSDAY
EVENING...DRIER ONSHORE FLOW WILL BRING A CLEARING TREND TO THE AREA
AND KEEP MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES ACROSS OUR CWFA THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF
THE PERIOD. WITH H5 HEIGHTS PROGGED TO REMAIN ABOVE 588 DM...TEMPS
WILL REMAIN A BIT ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE FIRST FEW DAYS OF JULY.

AVIATION...LOCAL MVFR IS POSSIBLE IN SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AND
TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS...AS WELL AS OVER THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS.
OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH 12Z WEDNESDAY. FOR
SPECIFIC DETAILS...PLEASE REFER TO TAFS FOR KMCE...KFAT AND KBFL.

HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.

&&

DUDLEY/BINGHAM/DS

Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 27, 4:13 AM PST, 8 hours 6 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
513 AM PDT TUE JUN 27 2006

CAZ089>092-281200-
WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
513 AM PDT TUE JUN 27 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN
JOAQUIN VALLEY.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH
TONIGHT. .

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY
NIGHT...DAY 2. OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED
AT THIS TIME.

SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS TO THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
OFFICE.

CAZ093>099-281200-
MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS-TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS-
KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-
TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-
SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
513 AM PDT TUE JUN 27 2006

.DAY ONE...TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

BINGHAM

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 wildfire, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Kern Cty Mtns

When: June 27, 12:19 PM PST to June 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE

Wildfire, Indian Wells Vly

When: June 28, 2:00 PM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Indian Wells Vly forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Lightning, Kern

When: June 28, 6:00 PM PST to 7:00 PM PST
Where: Kern County, 9 mi NW of Inyokern
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 35.343, -118.730 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Wildfire: A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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, June 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: 5513892, 5513891, 5513893.