Wildfire in California, August 1 to 31, 2008

Name: Wildfire in California, August 1 to 31, 2008
Start: 2008-08-01T00:00
End: 2008-08-31T23:59
Location: California

August 1 to 31, 2008 · NWS MFR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning from a thunderstorm event on 06/21/08 ignited numerous fires across northern California. and have been combined as one entity.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

Lightning from a thunderstorm event on 06/21/08 ignited numerous fires across northern California. The Siskiyou Complex and the Blue 2 complex were still burning at the end of August...and have been combined as one entity. As of 0800 PDT on 09/01/08, this fire was 78384 acres in size and 95% contained with an estimated containment date of 09/02/08. 62.5 million had been expended in fire fighting efforts.

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, 7:47 PM PST, 4 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 7:47 PM PST, 4 hours 13 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
847 PM PDT THU JUL 31 2008

.UPDATE...THE EVENING NAM MODEL RUN LOOKS SIMILAR TO MORNING RUN
WITH THE AFTERNOON FORECAST DESCRIBING THIS SCENARIO WELL.
THEREFORE...NO ADJUSTMENTS NEEDED TONIGHT.

&&

.AVIATION...ALONG THE COAST...FLIGHT CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO
DETERIORATE OVERNIGHT AS A COLD FRONT PUSHES ONSHORE. WIDESPREAD
MVFR CONDITIONS WILL LOWER TO IFR BY MORNING. MVFR AND LOCALIZED
IFR CEILINGS WILL THEN BEGIN PUSHING INTO THE UMPQUA BASIN BY
FRIDAY EVENING AS THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH SWINGS ONTO THE COAST.
ALL OTHER AREAS IN SOUTHWEST OREGON AND NORTH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
WILL REMAIN VFR THROUGHOUT THIS EVENT.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 223 PM PDT THU JUL 31 2008/

SHORT TERM...AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH TO THE NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED
TO MOVE INTO THE REGION TONIGHT WITH A WEAK FRONT MOVING ONSHORE
LATE TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY. NAM...GFS AND ECMWF INDICATE THAT THIS
FRONT WILL BRING A CHANCE FOR LIGHT RAIN TO THE COAST AND INLAND
INTO DOUGLAS COUNTY LATE TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY MORNING. THE TROUGH
LINGERS OVER THE REGION THROUGH SATURDAY WITH A COUPLE OF
SHORTWAVES MOVING INTO THE AREA FROM THE SOUTHWEST. THE FIRST OF
THESE SHORTWAVES IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE REMAINS OF A TROPICAL
DISTURBANCE TO THE SOUTH. THE GFS DOESNT RESOLVE THE FIRST
SHORTWAVE VERY WELL AND BRINGS THE SECOND INLAND SATURDAY
AFTERNOON. THE NAM AND ECMWF SHOW THE FIRST SHORTWAVE MOVING INTO
THE AREA LATE FRIDAY WITH SOME MID LEVEL MOISTURE MOVING INTO
MODOC AND SOUTHERN LAKE COUNTY. HOWEVER...LIFTED INDEX VALUES ARE
STABLE WITH ONLY SOME NEAR ZERO TO MINUS ONE VALUES FURTHER WEST.
SO HAVE KEPT THUNDERSTORMS OUT OF THE FORECAST FOR
FRIDAY...ALTHOUGH SOME CUMULUS CLOUD DEVELOPMENT IS POSSIBLE
ESPECIALLY OVER THE SOUTHEAST HALF OF THE CWA FROM CENTRAL
SISKIYOU COUNTY NORTH AND EAST.

THEN THE SECOND SHORTWAVE IS FORECAST TO MOVE INLAND ON SATURDAY. THE
GFS...NAM AND ECMWF SHOW SLIGHT DIFFERENCES IN TIMING WITH THE
ECMWF SHOWING THE FASTEST MOVEMENT ON THE WAVE. NAM AND GFS
INDICATE SOME WEAK INSTABILITY AS THE WAVE MOVES INLAND DURING
THE AFTERNOON. SO HAVE INTRODUCES A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR
THUNDERSTORMS FROM MOUNT SHASTA AREA NORTHEASTWARD. CONFIDENCE IS
LOW ON THIS EVENT SINCE THERE IS UNCERTAINTY IN THE TIMING OF THIS
FEATURE AND HOW MUCH MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY WILL BE ASSOCIATED
WITH IT.

LONG TERM...BEHIND THESE DISTURBANCES A WEAK TROUGH REMAINS OVER
THE AREA SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. THEN AS A RIDGE DEVELOPS OFFSHORE AND
BUILDS INTO THE AREA AND THE TROUGH TRANSITIONS TO A WEAK CUTOFF LOW
TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. THE ECMWF AND GFS SHOW SIMILAR SOLUTIONS
WITH THIS FEATURE...ALTHOUGH THE ECMWF KEEPS IT AS AN OPEN WAVE.
WHILE THE LOW REMAINS ALONG THE COAST OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND
SOUTHERN OREGON...THIS WILL BRING SOUTHERLY FLOW IN THE MID LEVELS
WHICH MAY ALLOW SMOKE FROM THE FIRES IN CALIFORNIA TO MOVE INTO
PORTIONS OF OREGON INCLUDING THE ROGUE...ILLINOIS VALLEYS. WILL ALSO
HAVE TO MONITOR THIS SITUATION FOR THE POTENTIAL FOR THUNDERSTORMS
IF MONSOON MOISTURE WORKS ITS WAY INTO THE AREA FROM THE SOUTH.
AFTERNOON HEATING WILL INCREASE MONDAY AND TUESDAY AS THE RIDGE
DEVELOPS WITH CONTINUED WARM TEMPERATURES WEDNESDAY AND POSSIBLY
INTO THURSDAY.

&&

.MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...NONE.

CA...NONE.

PACIFIC COASTAL WATERS...NONE.

CC/MWJ

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, Western Siskiyou County

When: August 1, 12:00 AM PST to August 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Western Siskiyou County forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 41.593, -122.540 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning from a thunderstorm event on 06/21/08 ignited numerous fires across northern California. The Siskiyou Complex and the Blue 2 complex were still burning at the end of July...and have been combined as one entity. As of 0800 PDT on 09/01/08, this fire was 78384 acres in size and 95% contained with an estimated containment date of 09/02/08. 62.5 million had been expended in fire fighting efforts.

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 2008 Every state in 2008 This day in weather history Warnings in California, August 2008

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: 124062.