Wildfire in California, April 29 to 30, 2007

Name: Wildfire in California, April 29 to 30, 2007
Start: 2007-04-29T13:54
End: 2007-04-30T23:59
Location: California

April 29 to 30, 2007 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The James wildfire broke out in the Sequoia National Forest. The cause of the fire was unknown.

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 HNX wrote it up.

The James wildfire broke out in the Sequoia National Forest. The cause of the fire was unknown. The size of the wildfire was 2200 acres. There were no injuries and no property damage occurred. Weather conditions leading up to the time of ignition were dry and hot, with temperatures in the 80s and 90s and humidities in the teens and 20s. However, on the second day of the fire (April 30), a low pressure trough approached interior California, allowing for slightly cooler and more humid conditions to develop. The wildfire was contained by 1800 PDT on May 3. The cost to contain the wildfire was $1.1 million.

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 Apr 29, 11:54 AM PST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 29, 11:54 AM PST, 2 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
1254 PM PDT SUN APR 29 2007

.DISCUSSION...HIGH CLOUDS CONTINUE TO STREAM NORTHEAST ACROSS
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AS A WEAK SYSTEM MOVES UP THE WEST SIDE OF THE
RIDGE. TEMPERATURE TRENDS ARE MIXED WITH SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY SITES
SLIGHTLY DOWN AND THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS RUNNING UP
CONSIDERABLY. ANOTHER LOOK AT THE FORT ORD PROFILER SHOWS THE
MARINE LAYER DEPTH AT AROUND 1600 FEET AND INCREASING AND
OBSERVATIONS IN THE SALINAS VALLEY SHOW A MUCH COOLER MORNING. IT
LOOKS LIKE THE MARINE AIR WILL ARRIVE LATER THIS AFTERNOON OVER
MERCED COUNTY BUT NOT UNTIL IT GETS RATHER TOASTY ONCE AGAIN. FOR
MONDAY, SOME SLIGHT COOLING OVER THE ENTIRE AREA DUE TO LOWERING
HEIGHTS IN RESPONSE TO THE RIDGE WEAKENING AND AN APPROACHING WEAK
PACIFIC LOW FROM THE SOUTHWEST. IF THE MARINE LAYER DEEPENS
SUFFICIENTLY, THE SJV COULD SEE SOME SIGNIFICANT COOLING IN
ADDITION TO THE SYNOPTIC COOLING. FORECAST MODELS BRING THE WEAK
LOW INTO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ON TUESDAY AND WITH CONTINUED
LOWERING HEIGHTS, ADDITIONAL COOLING IS ANTICIPATED. IN THE
WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY TIME FRAME, MEDIUM RANGE MODELS NOW HAVE
DECENT AGREEMENT IN BRINGING A SIGNIFICANT TROUGH INTO THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST. THIS WILL UNDOUBTEDLY BRING COOLER AIR, ALONG WITH
CLOUDS TO THE NORTHERN AREAS. THE THREAT OF PRECIPITATION REMAINS
MAINLY TO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, BUT ILL LEAVE IN THE SLIGHT CHANCE
POPS FOR THE YOSEMITE AREA. BY FRIDAY, THE MODELS DIVERGE AS THE
GFS EJECTS THE TROUGH EAST, WHILE THE ECMWF MODEL SPLITS THE FLOW
AND LINGERS A LOWER OVER SOUTHERN NEVADA ON FRIDAY. FOR THE
UPCOMING WEEKEND, A RIDGING PATTERN IS PROGGED BY BOTH THE GFS AND
ECMWF MODELS THUS IT SHOULD BE DRY AND WARMER.

&&

.AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA INTERIOR THROUGH 00Z TUESDAY. FOR SPECIFIC
DETAILS...PLEASE REFER TO THE TAFS FOR KMCE...KFAT...AND KBFL AND
TWEB ROUTES 421 AND 423.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
NONE

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&

DUDLEY/JEB

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Kern Cty Mtns

When: April 29, 1:54 PM PST to April 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: Park/Forest Service

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 2007 Every state in 2007 This day in weather history Warnings in California, April 2007

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: 36098.