Name: Wildfire in California, May 1 to 3, 2007
Start: 2007-05-01T00:00
End: 2007-05-03T17:00
Location: California

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 30, 8:14 PM PST, 3 hours 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 8:14 PM PST, 3 hours 46 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
914 PM PDT MON APR 30 2007

.UPDATE...BAND OF HIGH CLOUDS CONTINUES TO MOVE EAST ACROSS THE
FORECAST AREA THIS EVENING AND IS NOW MAINLY OVER THE SIERRA. THIS
BAND SHOULD BE EAST OF THE REGION BY MIDNIGHT. CURRENT FORECAST
LOOKS GOOD AND NO CHANGES NEEDED AT THIS TIME.

&&

.DISCUSSION...BAND OF MID AND HIGH CLOUDS CONTINUES TO SPREAD
EAST OVER THE FORECAST AREA THIS AFTERNOON, HOWEVER WATER VAPOR
SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATES THIS WILL MOVE EAST OF THE AREA THIS
EVENING, LEAVING CLEAR SKIES. THE UPPER LOW RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
CLOUDS CONTINUES TO MOVE EAST ALONG 30N AND FORECAST MODELS ARE IN
GOOD AGREEMENT IN BRINGING THIS FEATURE ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
ON TUESDAY. TEMPERATURES HAVE INDEED COOLED TODAY OVER THE REGION
AND WITH THE LOWERING HEIGHTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEM, SOME ADDITIONAL COOLING SHOULD OCCUR ON TUESDAY. ON
WEDNESDAY, THINGS GET A BIT MORE INTERESTING AS THE LATEST
FORECAST MODELS AGREE RATHER WELL THAT THE CURRENT DEVELOPING
TROUGH OUT NEAR 140W WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION ON WEDNESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY NIGHT, BRINGING AN INCREASED THREAT OF PRECIPITATION TO
AREAS FROM FRESNO NORTH. PER COLLABORATION WITH NWS RENO,
SACRAMENTO AND MONTEREY I HAVE INTRODUCED CHANCE POPS FOR THE SJV
AND INCREASED POPS TO CHANCE IN THE SIERRA. I DONT SEE A BIG
STORM, HOWEVER SOME PLACES MAY GET WET. FORECAST MODELS SHIFT THIS
TROUGH EAST ON THURSDAY AND THEN BRING AN INSIDE SLIDER LOW
ACROSS THE SIERRA AND INTO THE GREAT BASIN ON FRIDAY. RATHER GOOD
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GFS AND ECMWF WITH THIS SCENARIO AND I HAVE
INCREASED POPS TO THE CHANCE CATEGORY FOR THE YOSEMITE.

WITH THE PASSAGE OF THIS LOW AND THE MODEL PROGGED JET ALIGNING
NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST DOWN THE STATE, A BIG WIND EVENT COULD BE
IN THE OFFING FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERT FOR FRIDAY
AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY. WILL NEED TO WATCH THIS
SITUATION CAREFULLY AS OUTLOOKS AND/OR WATCHES MAY BE NEEDED LATER
THIS WEEK FOR HIGH WINDS.

OVER THE WEEKEND, FORECAST MODELS SHIFT THE LOW EAST INTO THE
ROCKIES AND BUILD A RIDGE OUT ALONG 135W. THIS PUTS CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA IN A DRY NORTHERLY FLOW ALOFT. BY MONDAY,
CLIMATOLOGICALLY FAVORED RIDGING IS PROGGED BY THE GFS AND I CANT
ARGUE WITH THIS SOLUTION.

&&

.AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA INTERIOR THROUGH 06Z WEDNESDAY. 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.
&&

BEAN/MOLINA

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Kern Cty Mtns

When: May 1, 12:00 AM PST to May 3, 5:00 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

More

Every storm in California in 2007 Every state in 2007 This day in weather history Warnings in California, May 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: 36100.