Afternoon thunderstorms and frequent lightning ignited fires in Joshua Tree NP.
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 PSR wrote it up.
Afternoon thunderstorms and frequent lightning ignited fires in Joshua Tree NP.
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 Phoenix, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 26, 2:10 PM PST, 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 310 PM MST THU AUG 26 2010 .UPDATE...UPDATED FIRE WEATHER DISCUSSION. && .SYNOPSIS... A WEAK AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL ALLOW FOR A CONTINUED CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE REGION TONIGHT AND FRIDAY. A LARGER...FASTER MOVING AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL SWEEP THROUGH THE AREA ON SATURDAY...FOLLOWED BY DRIER CONDITIONS ON SUNDAY. THERE WILL BE AN INCREASING CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE UPCOMING WEEK. && .DISCUSSION... EARLY AFTERNOON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY AND REGIONAL RADAR MOSAIC REVEALS A SMALL AREA OF LOW PRESSURE ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA...WITH A BAND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING NORTHWESTWARD THROUGH THE PHOENIX METRO AREA TOWARD TONOPAH. ONE COULD MAKE THE CASE THAT THE CENTER OF THE CIRCULATION HAD DRIFTED TOWARD EASTERN PIMA COUNTY AS OF 1PM BASED ON THE RADAR REFLECTIVITY ALONE...HOWEVER A SECONDARY CIRCULATION COULD BE INFERRED ACROSS SOUTHWEST MARICOPA AS WELL. RAINFALL TOTALS THUS FAR HAVE BEEN LARGELY UNIMPRESSIVE HOWEVER LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN HAS BEEN OBSERVED AT SEVERAL LOCATIONS. MEANWHILE ACROSS SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA SKIES ARE SUNNY AND TEMPERATURES CONTINUE TO SOAR TOWARD 110 DEGREES. THE HIGH AT SKY HARBOR THROUGH 1 PM HAS ONLY BEEN 95 DEGREES...WHICH OCCURRED AT 842 AM...8 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. VERY TRICKY FORECAST THIS EVENING AS ONLY THE NAM12 INITIALIZED THE CIRCULATION CENTER IN THE CORRECT PLACE...SO MY CONFIDENCE IN HOW TONIGHT WILL EVOLVE IS LOW. AS COULD BE EXPECTED...ABUNDANT CLOUD COVER APPEARS TO HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED CAPE ACROSS THE PHOENIX AREA...SHOWERS HAVE NOW MIGRATED WESTWARD TOWARD GREATER INSTABILITY ACROSS WESTERN MARICOPA COUNTY. MEANWHILE A LARGER TROUGH OFF THE WEST COAST AND ASSOCIATED CIRCULATION CENTER NEAR SAN DIEGO HAS LED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONVECTION ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS OF SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA. HOW BOTH OF THESE AREAS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EVOLVE TONIGHT IS A TOUGH CALL. I THINK SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BLOSSOM OVER LA PAZ/YUMA/WESTERN MARICOPA COUNTIES THIS EVENING WHERE SKIES HAVE BEEN SUNNY ALL DAY...THEN DRIFT INTO THE STABLE AIRMASS OVER THE PHOENIX AREA LATE TONIGHT. FOR THE MOST PART THIS WILL REDUCE THE AREAL COVERAGE OF THE PRECIP BUT SHOWERS AND OCCASIONAL THUNDERSTORMS COULD GO ON THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. I WILL MAINTAIN ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE PHOENIX AREA THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS INTO FRIDAY MORNING AND WHILE I AM NOT EXPECTING A REPEAT OF TODAYS WEATHER ON FRIDAY...I THINK SOME SHOWERS COULD PERSIST LONGER INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS THAN THEY WOULD TYPICALLY. THE LOW OVER SAN DIEGO WILL DRIFT THROUGH THE AREA TOMORROW ALTHOUGH THE BOUNDARY LAYER COULD BE SUFFICIENTLY WORKED OVER THAT CONVECTION IS AT A MINIMUM TOMORROW. REGARDLESS I THINK SUFFICIENT INSTABILITY WILL BE REALIZED IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN NORTHEAST OF PHOENIX TOMORROW AFTERNOON AND I WENT WITH HIGHER THAN CLIMO POPS. VERY SIMILAR TO THE PREVIOUS FORECAST. SATURDAY STILL LOOKS LIKE THE BEST DAY AS A LARGE TROUGH MOVES IN FROM THE PACIFIC. I MADE VERY FEW CHANGES TO THE FORECAST ON SATURDAY AS WE ALREADY HAD 30-50 PERCENT POPS IN PLACE ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA. THIS STILL LOOKS REASONABLE AS VERY DRY AIR ACROSS SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA WILL KEEP PRECIP CHANCES AT A MINIMUM...AND MEAN MIXING RATIOS OF 12+ G/KG IN THE EAST ALONG WITH SUFFICIENT INSTABILITY SHOULD RESULT IN SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...THE TROUGH AXIS REMAINS OVER THE INTERIOR WEST SUNDAY AS A SUBSEQUENT EMBEDDED DISTURBANCE MOVES THROUGH THE NORTHERN GREAT BASIN. WITH A SLOWER EASTWARD ADVANCE THAN PREVIOUSLY PROGGED...DRY ADVECTION DOES NOT ADVANCE QUITE AS FAR EAST OVER OUR FORECAST AREA. BY MONDAY...BOTH ECMWF AND GFS SHOW FRANK HAVING MOVED NORTH-NORTHWEST OFF THE COAST OF BAJA. THE OFFICIAL TPC TRACK DOES NOT TAKE IT THAT FAR NORTH AND SHOWS IT AS A TROPICAL DEPRESSION. BY TUESDAY...THE UPPER TROUGH AXIS REACHES THE PLAINS AND THERE IS A HIGH CENTERED NEAR THE TEXAS/MEXICO BORDER WITH SOUTH-SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT OVER OUR FORECAST AREA ENABLING MOISTURE TO MOVE FURTHER WEST. BY WEDNESDAY...THE HIGH IS ADVERTISED TO BE FURTHER WEST NEAR SONORA WHICH WILL LEAD TO LESS INSTABILITY. AS THE RIDGE APPROACHES...TEMPERATURES WILL INCREASE. && .AVIATION... SOUTH CENTRAL AZ...INCLUDING KIWA AND KPHX... SCT LGT SHWRS...WITH ISOLD RW/TRW CONTINUE TO SPREAD NEWD THROUGH THE AREA. CELL DEVELOPMENT IS SLOWER THAN TYPICAL LATE-DAY STORMS WITH STEADY MOVEMENT/GROWTH TO THE NORTH AND EAST. LTG HAS ALSO BEEN SLOW TO DEVELOP...WITH CELL TOPS TO 35-40 THSD FT. AMENDED TAF FOR SKY HARBOR STILL LOOKS GOOD WITH LOWEST CIGS NEAR 8 THSD FT AND LOWEST VSBY IN PRECIP NEAR 6 MILES. TIMING OF NEW STORMS NOT ADJUSTED FROM OLDER SET OF TAFS. THUS PEAK ACTIVITY 00-04Z. SOUTHEAST CA AND SOUTHWEST AZ...INCLUDING KIPL AND KBLH... EASTERLY WINDS REMAINING LESS THAN 12 KTS WITH SKC OR SCT CLOUDS THRU AT LEAST 27/03Z. BEST CHANCES FOR CB DEVELOPMENT WILL BE TONIGHT AND INTO FRIDAY AFTERNOON. DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDED TAFS. && .FIRE WEATHER... SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY... A LARGE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL SWEEP THROUGH THE SOUTHWEST UNITED STATES SUNDAY AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. THIS WILL RESULT IN GENERALLY CLEAR SKIES ACROSS SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHWEST ARIZONA. BUT THERE WILL BE SUFFICIENT MOISTURE FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA...MOSTLY OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN. TEMPERATURES WILL SHOW A SLOW WARMING TREND. && .PSR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AZ...NONE. CA...NONE. && NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX IS ON THE INTERNET AT WEATHER.GOV/PHOENIX DISCUSSION...LEINS/AJ AVIATION...SIPPLE FIRE WEATHER...SIPPLE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 615 AM MST THU AUG 26 2010 AZZ022>024-027-028-271315- NORTHWEST MARICOPA COUNTY-GREATER PHOENIX AREA- SOUTHERN GILA COUNTY/TONTO NATIONAL FOREST FOOTHILLS- SOUTHWEST MARICOPA COUNTY-NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL PINAL COUNTY- 615 AM MST THU AUG 26 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST-CENTRAL ARIZONA AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND TONIGHT. IF ANY STORMS FORM THEY WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LOCALIZED DAMAGING WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE LIKELIHOOD OF STORMS WILL INCREASE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WITH SEVERE POTENTIAL PEAKING ON SATURDAY. STORM CHANCES WILL DECREASE NEXT WEEK BUT WILL LINGER THROUGH WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. AZZ020-021-025-026-CAZ030>033-271315- LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY AZ-WEST CENTRAL DESERTS- YUMA/MARTINEZ LAKE AND VICINITY-SOUTHWEST DESERTS- JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK-LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY CA- RIVERSIDE COUNTY/EASTERN DESERTS-IMPERIAL COUNTY- 615 AM MST THU AUG 26 2010 /615 AM PDT THU AUG 26 2010/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EXTREME SOUTHWEST ARIZONA...EXTREME WEST-CENTRAL ARIZONA...SOUTHWEST ARIZONA...WEST- CENTRAL ARIZONA...EXTREME SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND TONIGHT...A BIT BETTER CHANCE OVER JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK. IF ANY STORMS FORM THEY WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LOCALIZED DAMAGING WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE FRIDAY THEN DECREASE FROM WEST TO EAST SATURDAY. SEVERE POTENTIAL WILL BE BEST ON SATURDAY OVER SOUTHWEST ARIZONA. DRY CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX IS ON THE INTERNET AT WEATHER.GOV/PHOENIX
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 134 PM MST THU AUG 26 2010 AZZ027-262115- MARICOPA AZ- 134 PM MST THU AUG 26 2010 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX HAS ISSUED A SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR... SOUTH CENTRAL MARICOPA COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA UNTIL 215 PM MST AT 129 PM MST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS DETECTED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GILA BEND. THIS STORM WAS NEARLY STATIONARY. WIND GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM...ALONG WITH HEAVY RAIN. IF THIS STORM INTENSIFIES...A WARNING MAY BE NEEDED. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO OR TV FOR THE LATEST UPDATES. SOME UNSECURED OBJECTS COULD BE BLOWN AROUND. SEEK SHELTER INDOORS UNTIL THE STORM PASSES. VERY HEAVY RAINFALL MAY CAUSE TEMPORARY PONDING ON SOME ROADS AND MINOR FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. IN HEAVY RAINFALL SLOW DOWN TO REDUCE THE RISK OF HYDROPLANING...AND LEAVE A SAFE DISTANCE BETWEEN YOURSELF AND OTHER VEHICLES. LAT...LON 3304 11261 3271 11246 3277 11296 3309 11313 TIME...MOT...LOC 2033Z 180DEG 0KT 3291 11277 SIPPLE
The Santa Ana Mts radar (KSOX), 130 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:32 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
The Chief Ranger at JTNP reported lightning started a brush fire that burned for two days and consumed about 110 acres in the Keys View area.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in California, August 2010
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: 258205.