Wildfires in Butte, Shasta, and Tehama counties spread quickly due to gusty winds, low humidity, and dry fuels.
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.
The episode as NWS STO wrote it up.
Wildfires in Butte, Shasta, and Tehama counties spread quickly due to gusty winds, low humidity, and dry fuels.
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 Sacramento, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 10, 9:05 PM PST, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA 1005 PM PDT TUE JUN 10 2008 .DISCUSSION... SHORT WAVE AND UPPER LEVEL TROF AXIS HAS MOVED INTO THE GREAT BASIN WITH STRONG SUBSIDENCE MAINTAINING STRONG NLY GRADIENTS...ABOUT 12 MBS FROM MFR-SAC. CANSAC MM5 FORECAST WINDS INDICATE STRONGEST BAND OF WINDS WILL BE GENERALLY ALONG THE E SIDE OF THE CENTRAL/SRN SAC VLY INTO EARLY THIS EVENING...BEFORE SHIFTING MORE TO THE W SIDE OF THE VLY INCLUDING SOLANO CO BETWEEN 06Z-12Z...AND THE STRONGEST BAND OF WINDS CONTINUING MAINLY ALONG THE CENTRAL AND W SIDE OF THE SAC VLY THROUGH 21Z WED...AND THEN DECREASING. KOAK FORECAST BUFKIT SOUNDING AND NAM40 925 MBS WINDS INDICATE THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL SHIFT WWD OVERNITE AND INTO WED IN DEFERENCE TO THE NLY BARRIER JET...DOCUMENTED BY STAUDENMAIER (1994), ET.AL. THESE NLY WINDS AND SPECIFICALLY THE NLY BARRIER WINDS CAN LEAD TO EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR. KOAK BUFKIT FORECAST SOUNDING SHOWS THIS BARRIER JET DEVELOPING GENERALLY FROM 07Z-18Z. THIS IS DUE TO THE PRESSURE RISES DEVELOPING OVER THE GREAT BASIN IN THE WAKE OF THE SHORT WAVE...AND INCREASING THE NELY GRADIENT. LOCAL SUSTAINED SPEEDS FORECAST TO BE IN THE 22-26 MPH RANGE WITH 925 MBS INDICATING GUSTS TO 40-45 MPH AT LEAST FROM 12Z-18Z WED. FORMATION OF RADIATIVE INVERSION WILL ALLOW WINDS TO DECOUPLE OVER MANY LOCATIONS DURING THE EVENING...WITH WINDS INCREASING ON THE W SIDE OF THE CENTRAL VALLEY UPON FORMATION OF THE BARRIER JET. WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NLY BARRIER JET OVER THE CENTRAL AND W SIDE OF THE VLY...THE STRONGEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED THERE ONCE MIXING BEGINS AGAIN BY MID-LATE MORNING. DUE TO DIURNAL HEATING IN THE GREAT BASIN ON WED...THE NELY GRADIENT WILL WEAKEN BUT THE NLY MFR-RDD GRADIENT REMAINS STRONG...ABOUT 10 MBS ON WED...COMPARED TO THE 12-13 MBS TODAY. WINDS ALOFT FORECAST TO BE WEAKER WED NITE AND AND THU...SO THE NLY BARRIER JET EXPECTED TO BE AT LEAST 10-15 MPH LESS THAN TONITE AND WED MORNING. BY 00Z FRI-06Z FRI...WINDS FORECAST TO TURN SWLY TO SELY WITH SWLY FLOW PREVAILING ON FRI WHICH WILL MEAN THE END OF THIS N WIND EVENT. WITH THE SHORT WAVE AND UPPER TROF MOVING E OF THE AREA ON THU...THE COLD ADVECTION WILL WEAKEN ALLOWING THE AIR MASS TO MODIFY...AT LEAST SOME 2 TO 5 DEG OVER MOST LOCATIONS. FURTHER WARMING OF SOME 3 TO 6 DEG IS EXPECTED ON FRI AS THE ERN PAC RIDGE BEGINS TO BUILD INTO NORCAL ON FRI. JHM .EXTENDED DISCUSSION... PREVIOUS ECMWF AND GFS BOTH INDICATE A WEAK TROUGH PASSAGE THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST OVER THE WEEKEND. THIS SHOULD BRING A LITTLE COOLING OVER THE WEEKEND WITH A SLIGHT ONSHORE SURFACE FLOW BY SUNDAY. EXTENDED MODELS DROP A TROUGH INTO THE EASTERN PACIFIC EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH CONSIDERABLE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MODELS IN THE STRENGTH OF THE TROUGH. GFS LOOKS OVERDONE AND HAVE TRENDED TOWARD THE WARMER ECMWF SOLUTION...THOUGH THIS STILL WILL BRING A MORE ONSHORE FLOW AT ALL LEVELS AND WILL KNOCK TEMPERATURES DOWN TO NEAR NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. SMITH && .AVIATION... VFR SKC CONDITIONS THROUGH WEDNESDAY...EXCEPT FOR LOCAL SMOKE LAYERS. NORTHERLY FLOW AT SURFACE AND ALOFT WILL CONTINUE GUSTY NORTHERLY WINDS. WIDESPREAD AREAS OF GUSTS 25-35 KTS OR MORE AGAIN WEDNESDAY MORNING. && .STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... RED FLAG WARNING FOR GUSTY WIND AND LOW HUMIDITY THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON BELOW 3000 FEET. WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM PDT WEDNESDAY FOR THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY...NORTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND DELTA. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA 530 AM PDT TUE JUN 10 2008 CAZ013>019-063-064-066>069-111400- SHASTA LAKE AREA/NORTHERN SHASTA COUNTY- BURNEY BASIN/EASTERN SHASTA COUNTY-NORTHERN SACRAMENTO VALLEY- CENTRAL SACRAMENTO VALLEY-SOUTHERN SACRAMENTO VALLEY- CARQUINEZ STRAIT AND DELTA-NORTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- MOUNTAINS SOUTHWESTERN SHASTA TO NORTHERN LAKE COUNTIES- CLEAR LAKE/SOUTHERN LAKE COUNTY-MOTHERLODE- EAST FOOTHILLS/NORTH SACRAMENTO VALLEY- WESTERN PLUMAS COUNTY/LASSEN PARK-WEST SLOPE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA- 530 AM PDT TUE JUN 10 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR INTERIOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY STRONG GUSTY NORTHERLY WINDS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE CENTRAL VALLE TODAY...AND COMBINED WITH LOWERING HUMIDITIES WILL LEAD TO ELEVATED FIRE DANGER. * RED FLAG WARNING...........SEE WWUS86 KSTO - RFWSTO FOR DETAILS * * WIND ADVISORY..............SEE WWUS76 KSTO - NPWSTO FOR DETAILS * .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY GUSTY NORTHERLY WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITIES WILL CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY. * RED FLAG WARNING...........SEE WWUS86 KSTO - RFWSTO FOR DETAILS * * WIND ADVISORY..............SEE WWUS76 KSTO - NPWSTO FOR DETAILS * .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET AT (LOWER CASE): HTTP://WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/STO
2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Humboldt Fire injured 8 firefighters, destroyed 74 homes, and damaged 20 other buildings. The fire burned 23162 acres in an area located between Chico and Paradise before being contained on June 16th.
The Whiskey Fire damaged 7783 acres in southwest Shasta and northwest Tehama counties. The fire was contained on June 21st.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in California, June 2008
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: 111052, 111083.