Name: Wildfire in California, September 1 to 30, 2010
Start: 2010-09-01T00:00
End: 2010-09-30T23:59
Location: California

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

The Sheep wildfire occurred in Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park. The ignition date was 7/16/10 at 1200 PDT. The cause was lightning. The location was 1.5 miles southwest of Cedar Grove (Fresno County along the Tulare County border). The size was 9007 acres (3119 acres in Kings Canyon NP, 5888 acres in Sequoia Forest). Containment was reported on Oct 3, 2010. Rain on Oct 3-6 extinguished the fire. The cost for containment was $1,567,000 as of 10/3/10.

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, 7:59 PM PST, 4 hours 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 7:59 PM PST, 4 hours 1 minute before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
859 PM PDT TUE AUG 31 2010

.SYNOPSIS...
HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL GRADUALLY BUILD OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL
DAYS. THIS WILL BRING A CONTINUED WARMING TREND THROUGH THE END OF
THE WEEK...WITH TEMPERATURES SEVERAL DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL BY
THURSDAY.

&&

.DISCUSSION...UPPER RIDGE BUILDING ACROSS CENTRAL CA HAS BEGUN.
THE FT ORD PROFILER AND KOAK SOUNDINGS ARE 10-12 DEGS/C WARMER
THAN JUST 12 HRS AGO ABOVE 1K FT. ONSHORE COASTAL GRADS HAVE
WEAKENED BY ABOUT HALF WHAT THEY WERE YESTERDAY ATTM SNS-FAT AND
SMX-FAT. THE SBA-BFL GRAD IS OFFSHORE NOW AS ARE INTERIOR GRADS
SNS-RNO AND TPH-LAX. CURRENT FCST FOR WED LOOKS ON TRACK AND NO
UPDATE NEEDED THIS EVE.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 159 PM PDT TUE AUG 31 2010/

DISCUSSION...
THE WARMING TREND ACROSS INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA CONTINUES
THIS AFTERNOON AS THE EXITING TROUGH OVER THE REGION IS BEING
GRADUALLY SUCCEEDED BY A BUILDING UPPER RIDGE. TEMPERATURES ARE
GENERALLY ON TRACK TO TOP OUT A FEW DEGREES ABOVE HIGHS FROM
YESTERDAY AFTERNOON.

AS THE UPPER RIDGE BUILDS FURTHER OVER THE REGION...WARMING WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. BY TOMORROW...TEMPERATURES
WILL CLIMB TO A COUPLE OF DEGREES ABOVE CLIMO...PEAKING OUT FRIDAY
WITH WIDESPREAD TRIPLE DIGIT HIGHS ACROSS THE VALLEY...DESERT AND
LOWER FOOTHILL LOCATIONS.

SATURDAY WILL BRING ONLY A SLIGHT COOLDOWN...MOST NOTABLE OVER
NORTHERN PORTIONS OF OUR AREA AS THE RIDGE BEGINS TO WEAKEN IN
RESPONSE TO THE NEXT TROUGH DROPPING SOUTH FROM ALASKA. THOUGH
THIS TROUGH IS NOT PROGGED TO BE QUITE AS SUBSTANTIAL AS THE
MOST RECENT PASSING SYSTEM...IT WILL PROVIDE ADDITIONAL COOLING
ACROSS THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE
HOLIDAY WEEKEND AS IT PUSHES THROUGH...WITH TEMPERATURES DROPPING
BACK TO A FEW DEGREES BELOW SEASONAL AVERAGES BY LABOR DAY AND
CONTINUING INTO TUESDAY AS ADDITIONAL SHORTWAVE ENERGY DROPS INTO
THE REGION.

MODELS DO NOT SHOW ANY SIGNIFICANT ENCROACHMENT OF MOISTURE ACROSS
THE DISTRICT THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK AND THE FORECAST THUS REMAINS
DRY THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD.

&&

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

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
NONE

&&

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

PUBLIC...BINGHAM
AVN/FW...DS
SYNOPSIS...TLM

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Event by event

2 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

Wildfire, Tulare Cty Mtns

When: September 1, 12:00 AM PST to September 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Tulare Cty 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

More

Every storm in California in 2010 Every state in 2010 This day in weather history Warnings in California, September 2010

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: 266325, 266330.