A strong high pressure ridge over the region continued to produce hot temperatures across most of interior Northern California into mid-May. The ridge began to give way on the 19th, with a Delta Breeze starting to cool the Sacramento Valley.
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.
A strong high pressure ridge over the region continued to produce hot temperatures across most of interior Northern California into mid-May. The ridge began to give way on the 19th, with a Delta Breeze starting to cool the Sacramento Valley. Hot temperatures lingered into the 19th in other nearby areas, including the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the adjacent foothills and the northern San Joaquin Valley.
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 May 17, 8:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA 930 PM PDT SAT MAY 17 2008 .DISCUSSION... POWERFUL UPPER LEVEL RIDGE CONTINUED TO DOMINATE THE PATTERN OVER THE WEST COAST TODAY WITH RECORD HIGHS FALLING ALL ACROSS THE VALLEY. REDDING SET A RECORD HIGH OF 106...104 AT RED BLUFF...102 AT SACRAMENTO EXECUTIVE AIRPORT...104 AT STOCKTON...AND 105 AT MODESTO. THE RIDGE IS BEGINNING TO FLATTEN OUT THIS EVENING. TEMPERATURES FOR SUNDAY WILL BE A LITTLE LOWER THAN YESTERDAY...ESPECIALLY IN THE DELTA WHERE SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW WILL BRING COOLER AIR IN. 850 TEMPERATURES AND 500 MB HEIGHTS OVERALL DO NOT DROP TOO MUCH TOMORROW....SO EXPECT ANOTHER HOT DAY OVERALL. THE MARINE LAYER HAS MOVED UP TO THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST BUT IS RELATIVELY SHALLOW. THE FORT ORD PROFILER SHOWING A DEPTH OF AROUND 1000 FEET...SO NOT EXPECTING ANY INCURSIONS OF LOW CLOUDS AND FOG FOR THE DELTA OR COLDER AIR INTO HIGHER TERRAIN. 00Z NAM CONTINUES TO HINT THAT THIS COULD CHANGE ON MONDAY. APPROACHING TROUGH WILL BRING A SIGNIFICANT DROP IN TEMPERATURES MID WEEK...REACHING MORE SEASONABLE LEVELS. CURRENT FORECAST LOOKS ON TRACK SO NO UPDATES ARE NECESSARY. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS CONTINUE TO PREVAIL ACROSS THE INTERIOR OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA UNDER STRONG UPPER LEVEL RIDGING WHICH IS YIELDING MUCH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND INCREASED DENSITY ALTITUDES. SURFACE WINDS ARE RELATIVELY LIGHT EXCEPT AN INCREASING ONSHORE DELTA FLOW WILL PROVIDE SOUTHWEST WINDS FROM 10 TO 20 KNOTS THROUGH CARQUINEZ STRAIT WITH GUSTS NEAR 30 KNOTS OVER THE WESTERN DELTA AND NEAR 20 KNOTS IN THE NORTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY THIS EVENING. R C HARTLEY && .STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA 530 AM PDT SAT MAY 17 2008 CAZ013>019-063-064-066>069-181400- 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 SAT MAY 17 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR INTERIOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY HOT WEATHER WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE INTERIOR OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WITH RECORD OR NEAR RECORD HIGHS POSSIBLE...OTHERWISE NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET AT (LOWER CASE): HTTP://WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/STO
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA 730 PM PDT SAT MAY 17 2008 CAZ013>019-063-064-066>069-190000- 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 COUNTY TO NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY- CLEAR LAKE/SOUTHERN LAKE COUNTY- NORTHEAST FOOTHILLS/SACRAMENTO VALLEY-MOTHERLODE- WESTERN PLUMAS COUNTY/LASSEN PARK- WEST SLOPE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA- 730 PM PDT SAT MAY 17 2008 ...PEAK SNOWMELT INTO RIVERS AND STREAMS THIS WEEKEND... WITH RECORD HEAT CONTINUING FOR THIS WEEKEND...MOUNTAIN SNOWMELT IS REACHING AROUND PEAK LEVELS FOR THE YEAR. WITH WATER LEVELS RUNNING HIGH AND FAST...PEOPLE SWIMMING OR WADING CAN BE EASILY SWEPT DOWNSTREAM. EVEN RELATIVELY SHALLOW WATER CAN BE DANGEROUS. WHILE AIR TEMPERATURES ARE HOT...WATER FROM SNOWMELT IS VERY COLD. PEOPLE WADING...RAFTING OR FISHING ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO A SUDDEN LOSS OF BODY TEMPERATURE FROM THE COLD WATER. THIS CONDITION IS CALLED HYPOTHERMIA AND IT CAN BE LIFE THREATENING. YOUNG CHILDREN ARE PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE AND SHOULD BE CAREFULLY WATCHED IN AND ALONG AREA WATERWAYS. TEMPERATURES FOR SUNDAY WILL CONTINUE TO BE ABOUT 10 TO 20 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. HEAT RELATED ILLNESSES ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE CONDITIONS UNLESS PROPER PRECAUTIONS ARE TAKEN. PERSONS WORKING OUTDOORS OR PLANNING OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES SHOULD WEAR LIGHTWEIGHT LIGHT-COLORED CLOTHING...TAKE FREQUENT BREAKS FROM THE SUN AND DRINK PLENTY OF NON-ALCOHOLIC FLUIDS. TRY TO AVOID STRENUOUS ACTIVITY DURING THE HOTTEST TIME OF THE DAY. DO NOT LEAVE CHILDREN OR PETS ALONE IN AN UNATTENDED VEHICLE. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO RETURN TO NEAR NORMAL BY MID WEEK. EK
3 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
The temperature at Redding Airport reached 102 degrees, breaking the previous daily high temperature record of 101 degrees set in 1973. The temperature at Red Bluff Airport reached 101 degrees, breaking the previous daily high temperature record of 100 degrees set in 1997.
The temperature at Stockton Airport reached 102 degrees, breaking the previous daily high temperature record of 100 degrees set in 1997. The temperature at Modesto Airport reached 105 degrees, breaking the previous daily high temperature record of 99 degrees also set in 1997.
The temperature at Modesto Airport reached 99 degrees, breaking the previous daily high temperature record 98 degrees set in 2001.
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, May 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: 107425, 107442, 107443.