Wildfire in California, September 1 to 30, 2009

Name: Wildfire in California, September 1 to 30, 2009
Start: 2009-09-01T00:00
End: 2009-09-30T23:59
Location: California

September 1 to 30, 2009 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A few wildfires continued during the month of September in the Sierra Nevada. The Wildcat wildfire, which ignited on July 29, 2009, continued to burn during the months of August and September.

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.

A few wildfires continued during the month of September in the Sierra Nevada.

The Wildcat wildfire, which ignited on July 29, 2009, continued to burn during the months of August and September. The location was 9 miles northwest of Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite NP. The original cause was from lightning. The size was 1255 acres.

The Power fire in Sequoia National Forest, ignited on September 27th early in the morning. The cause was unknown. The location was Highway 190 near Springville in Tulare County. The size was 400 acres. The fire was contained on September 29th at a cost of $500,000.

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 Aug 31, 7:45 PM PST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 7:45 PM PST, 4 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...RESENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
845 PM PDT MON AUG 31 2009

.DISCUSSION...HE MARINE LAYER AT FORT ORD PEAKED AROUND 1600 FEET
DEEP THIS MORNING...BUT HAS BEEN SLOWLY DIMINISHING SINCE 20Z. THE
WEAK MARINE PUSH OVERNIGHT AND THIS MORNING BROUGHT SEVERAL DEGREES
COOLING TO THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...WITH THE
HIGH TEMPERATURE AT LOS BANOS DROPPING 8 DEGREES /FROM 105 TO 97/
AND MERCED MUNICIPAL AIRPORT FALLING 9 DEGREES FROM 103 TO 94.

HIGH TEMPERATURES...AS OF 00Z...IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN
JOAQUIN VALLEY RANGED FROM THE ABOVE-MENTIONED 94 AT THE MERCED
MUNICIPAL AIRPORT TO 102 AT BAKERSFIELD AND COALINGA. THE CHINA
LAKE N.A.W.C. WAS THE HOT SPOT IN THE HANFORD WARNING/FORECAST AREA
WITH A HIGH OF 103.

FRESNO ENDED AUGUST WITH 11 DAYS AT 100+ DEGREES...WHILE BAKERSFIELD
ONLY HAD 5 SUCH DAYS. THROUGH TODAY...FRESNO HAS HAD 37 100+ DEGREE
DAYS SO FAR THIS YEAR. THIS IS ONE MORE THAN THE NORMAL NUMBER OF
TRIPLE-DIGIT FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR. BAKERSFIELD HAS HAD 30 DAYS AT
100+ DEGREES SO FAR THIS YEAR. THE NORMAL NUMBER FOR A YEAR IS 38
DAYS.

THE MAIN WEATHER FEATURES AFFECTING THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR
THIS EVENING ARE THE UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE CENTERED OVER NEW MEXICO...
AND AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW NEAR 48N/139W AND ITS ASSOCIATED TROUGH. ONE
SHORT-WAVE MOVING THROUGH THE TROUGH AND INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
OVERNIGHT HELPED DEEPEN THE MARINE LAYER. ANOTHER SHORT-WAVE IS
MOVING ONSHORE THIS EVENING...WITH A THIRD WAVE OFFSHORE.

THE UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE IS FORECAST TO TO BUILD INTO CALIFORNIA
TUESDAY...AND 500-MB HEIGHTS OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE HANFORD
WARNING/FORECAST AREA ARE FORECAST TO RISE TO 5880 METERS BY 00Z
WEDNESDAY. THE RIDGE THEN IS FORECAST TO REMAIN OVER CALIFORNIA
WEDNESDAY...THEN BEGIN TO WEAKEN THURSDAY AS THE UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH
SWINGS INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.

THE 18Z GFS BRINGS SOME SUBTROPICAL MID-LEVEL MOISTURE INTO
CALIFORNIA WEDNESDAY...WITH 700-500-MB RELATIVE HUMIDITIES OF 80+
PERCENT ALONG THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA CREST BY 00Z THURSDAY. THE
CURRENT FORECAST HAS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS NEAR THE CREST
WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT...AND SEE NO REASON TO CHANGE.

TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THURSDAY...THEN COOL
TO NEAR NORMAL FRIDAY AS THE WAKE OF THE FIRST TROUGH.

A SECOND TROUGH DROPPING OUT OF THE GULF OF ALASKA IS FORECAST TO
MOVE INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FRIDAY NIGHT
AND SATURDAY...WITH YET ANOTHER TROUGH MOVING THROUGH SUNDAY AND
SUNDAY NIGHT. THE ECMWF IS MUCH STRONGER THAN THE GFS WITH THIS LAST
TROUGH...AND IF CORRECT...THIS WOULD DELAY AN EAST-PACIFIC BUILDING
INTO CALIFORNIA DURING THE FIRST PART OF NEXT WEEK. THE CURRENT
FORECAST FAVORS THE GFS WITH SATURDAY BEING THE COOLEST DAY OF THE
WEEK...BUT THE TEMPERATURE RECOVERY SUNDAY AND MONDAY LOOKS LESS
CERTAIN IN VIEW OF THE 12Z ECMWF.

&&

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

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
ON TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 1 2009...UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS IN
KERN COUNTY. FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT VALLEYAIR.ORG

&&

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

&&

PUBLIC...SANGER
AVN/FW...DS

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, S Sierra Mtns

When: September 1, 12:00 AM PST to September 30, 11:59 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 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in California, September 2009

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: 197260.