Thunderstorms brought about 1500 recorded lightning strikes to northern California. One lightning strike injured a woman at a sporting event in Stockton and a number of small wildfires were started across the area.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
Thunderstorms brought about 1500 recorded lightning strikes to northern California. One lightning strike injured a woman at a sporting event in Stockton and a number of small wildfires were started across the area.
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 Sep 13, 8:35 AM PST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA 935 AM PDT SUN SEP 13 2009 .DISCUSSION... NORTHERN CALIFORNIA IS IN BETWEEN STORM SYSTEMS THIS MORNING. YESTERDAYS UPPER WAVE HAS MOVED OFF TO THE NORTH AND EAST BUT HAS LEFT BEHIND PLENTY OF MOISTURE AND CLOUD COVER IN ITS WAKE. UPSTREAM THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM IS CENTERED NEAR 41N 130W AND DRIFTING EASTWARD. THIS SYSTEMS CIRRUS SHIELD IS ALREADY APPROACHING THE COAST AND SHOULD BE MOVING OVER THE CENTRAL VALLEY LATE THIS MORNING INTO EARLY AFTERNOON. AT THE SURFACE...ONSHORE GRADIENT HAS WEAKENED OVERNIGHT BUT STILL REMAINS POTENT WITH WINDS AT KSUU STILL GUSTING OVER 25KT THIS MORNING. THE MARINE LAYER HAS CONTINUED TO DEEPEN OVERNIGHT WITH 12Z OAKLAND SOUNDING INDICATING IT TO BE AROUND 3000 FT DEEP. SOME MARINE STRATUS MADE IT INTO PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHERN SACRAMENTO VALLEY ALONG THE SIERRA FOOTHILLS THIS MORNING. TEMPERATURES ARE CURRENTLY RUNNING ANYWHERE FROM 8 TO 18 DEGREES COOLER THAN 24 HOURS AGO ACROSS INTERIOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. THE UPSTREAM TROUGH WILL BE THE MAIN WEATHER PRODUCER OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. THOUGH WE SHOULD SEE A FAIR BIT OF SUNSHINE TODAY...TEMPERATURES ALOFT WILL BE MUCH COOLER THAN YESTERDAY. HIGHS THIS AFTERNOON SHOULD ONLY REACH THE UPPER 70S TO MID 80S THROUGH THE VALLEY...COOLEST NEAR THE DELTA WITH TEMPS PEAKING IN THE 60S AND 70S OVER HIGHER ELEVATIONS. NOT EXPECTING ANY FORECAST UPDATES AT THIS TIME. CLOUD COVER WILL INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT AS THE COLD FRONT APPROACHES. THIS SYSTEM IS AIDED BY A PW PLUME IN THE 1.25 TO 1.50 RANGE...ABOUT 150 TO 200 PERCENT OF NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. TIMING AND COVERAGE OF SHOWERS HAS NOT BEEN HANDLED WELL...BUT THE GFS AND GEM HAVE BEEN THE MOST CONSISTENT. GENERALLY EXPECTING SHOWERS TO REACH THE BAY AREA LATE THIS AFTERNOON TO EARLY EVENING WITH MOST OF THE SHOWERY ACTIVITY OVER THE VALLEY OCCURRING OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. THE TROUGH WILL SWING THROUGH TONIGHT...ANY RESIDUAL PRECIPITATION ON MONDAY SHOULD BE CONFINED TOWARDS THE NORTHERN SIERRA. DANG .PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... TIME-HEIGHT X-SECTIONS SHOW DECREASING MOISTURE IN THE CENTRAL VALLEY AFTER MIDDAY TOMORROW BUT KEEP A THREAT OF SHOWERS IN THE SIERRA NEVADA FOOTHILLS AND WEST SLOPES THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON. HIGH TEMPS MONDAY EXPECTED TO BE ABOUT 10 DEGREES OR SO BELOW NORMAL WITH VALLEY HIGHS 75-80 WITH UPPER 50S TO LOWER 70S IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN. PAC RIDGING RETURNS OVER NORCAL TUESDAY WITH WARMING TEMPS AND LOWER 90S RETURNING TO PORTIONS OF THE CENTRAL VALLEY. ANOTHER FRONTAL SYSTEM PROGGED TO APPROACH THE WEST COAST MIDWEEK BUT MEDIUM RANGE MODELS MAINTAIN ENOUGH RIDGING OVER NORCAL TO KEEP STORM TRACK FOCUSED INTO THE PAC NW. TEMPS WARM TO 5 TO 10 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL THU INTO SATURDAY AS EPAC HIGH BUILDS INLAND OVER NORCAL. PCH && .AVIATION... GENERAL VFR CONDS EXPECTED THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON AS MID AND HIGH-LEVEL CLOUDS BEGIN TO INCREASE ACROSS INTERIOR NORCAL AHEAD OF PACIFIC FRONTAL SYSTEM APPROACHING REGION. MARINE LAYER HAS DEEPENED TO AROUND 3K FT OVERNIGHT AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING SYSTEM AND AREAS OF MVFR CIGS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE SAC VLY 12Z-16Z. FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE INLAND THIS EVENING WITH AREAS OF IFR/MVFR VSBYS/CIGS DEVELOPING ACROSS THE HYR TRRN OF THE NRN SIERNEV AROUND 06Z MON. SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS INCREASING OVER RIDGETOPS AFTER 18Z WITH GUSTS TO 30 KNOTS OVER HIGHEST ELEVATIONS WITH 20-25 KNOT GUSTS IN THE SAC VLY. && .STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA 700 AM PDT SUN SEP 13 2009 CAZ013>019-063-064-066>069-141400- 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- 700 AM PDT SUN SEP 13 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR INTERIOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY 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
The Sacramento radar (KDAX), 79 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:23 UTC.
1 lightning, 1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A woman was struck by lightning while carrying a large umbrella at a softball game at the San Joaquin Regional Sports Complex in Stockton. Additional reports suggest the lightning hit about 30 feet away from her. The woman suffered minor injuries.
Lightning started a number of fires over the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains including the Telegraph Fire near Copperopolis (200 acres) and the San Antonio Fire near Arnold (5 acres), both located in Calaveras County. The other fires were small and quickly extinguished.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in California, September 2009
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: 197465, 197472.