Wildfire in California, July 1 to 5, 2008

Name: Wildfire in California, July 1 to 5, 2008
Start: 2008-07-01T00:00
End: 2008-07-05T18:00
Location: California

July 1 to 5, 2008 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Oliver wildfire was on state forest land, by the Merced-Madera-Mariposa Unit. The location was north of Ponderosa Basin and the size was 2789 acres.

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 Oliver wildfire was on state forest land, by the Merced-Madera-Mariposa Unit. The location was north of Ponderosa Basin and the size was 2789 acres. The ignition date was June 21 at 1610 PST. The cause was lightning. The wildfire was contained on July 5. There were no fatalities or damaged properties. The cost to containment was $12,217,857.

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 30, 8:21 PM PST, 3 hours 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 30, 8:21 PM PST, 3 hours 39 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
921 PM PDT MON JUN 30 2008

.DISCUSSION...SATELLITE IMAGERY REVEALS A THIN BAND OF MID/HIGH
CLOUDS THAT HAS BEEN PUSHING EAST ACROSS THE DISTRICT THIS
EVENING. THE TAIL END OF THE CLOUDS WILL EXIT THE DISTRICT SHORTLY
AND CLEAR SKIES WILL PREVAIL FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT. HIGH
TEMPERATURES WARMED TO AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE CLIMO THIS AFTERNOON
UNDER A DRY SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. THIS PATTERN WILL NOT CHANGE
MUCH FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS WE REMAIN BETWEEN A MEAN UPPER
TROUGH OVER THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC AND AN UPPER RIDGE CENTERED OVER
THE FOUR CORNERS REGION. ONSHORE FLOW WILL ALLOW FOR SOME MILD
AFTERNOON/EVENING BREEZES TO CONTINUE IN THE VALLEY EACH DAY...WHILE
THE KERN MOUNTAINS AND DESERT WILL SEE SOME GUSTY CONDITIONS OVER
THE TYPICALLY WIND PRONE PASS AREAS...BUT THESE WILL REMAIN BELOW
ADVISORY LEVELS. MEDIUM RANGE MODELS AGREE WITH SHIFTING THE TROUGH
AXIS THROUGH NORCAL FRIDAY AS PACIFIC RIDGING FILLS IN BEHIND IT
AND THEN MERGES WITH THE FOUR CORNERS HIGH BY SUNDAY. THIS WILL
ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO CLIMB A LITTLE SUNDAY AND MONDAY WITH TRIPLE
DIGIT HEAT RETURNING TO THE VALLEY...GENERALLY 100-103 BY MONDAY.
CURRENT FORECAST LOOKS GOOD AND NO UPDATES ARE PLANNED THIS EVENING.

&&

LOCAL MVFR CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE MOUNTAINS DUE TO SMOKE
FROM WILDFIRES. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR THROUGH 06Z WEDNESDAY.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
NONE

&&

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

PUBLIC...DCH
AVN/FW...SANGER

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, S Sierra Mtns

When: July 1, 12:00 AM PST to July 5, 6:00 PM PST
Where: S Sierra 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 2008 Every state in 2008 This day in weather history Warnings in California, July 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: 137041.