Heat, W Central S.J. Valley
- When
- July 2, 11:00 AM PST to July 10, 5:00 PM PST
- Where
- W Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
- Reported by
- Mesonet
Heat in California, July 2 to 10, 2011
July began with an upper-level ridge building into California in the wake of the storms that marked the last days of June. Temperatures warmed to near normal on the first day of the month, and continued to warm the next several days.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 4
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.
July began with an upper-level ridge building into California in the wake of the storms that marked the last days of June. Temperatures warmed to near normal on the first day of the month, and continued to warm the next several days. Bakersfield recorded 9 consecutive days of triple digit heat from July 2nd-10th, and Fresno had 8 consecutive days. Both cities had highs of 106 degrees on July 4th (the hottest day of the period), with Bakersfield repeating the next day.
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 Jul 2, 8:10 AM PST, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 2, 8:10 AM PST, 2 hours 50 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 910 AM PDT SAT JUL 2 2011 .SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD WEST INTO CALIFORNIA THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. THIS WILL BRING TRIPLE DIGIT HEAT TO THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...THE ADJACENT LOWER FOOTHILLS...AND HIGH DESERT WELL INTO NEXT WEEK. AN EARLY START TO THE SUMMER MONSOON SEASON MAY BEGIN SUNDAY OR INDEPENDENCE DAY WITH INCREASING THUNDERSTORM CHANCES OVER THE MOUNTAIN AND DESERT AREAS. && .DISCUSSION...CLEAR SKIES PREVAILING OVER AREA THIS MORNING AS A LARGE AREA OF UPPER HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED OVER THE FOUR CORNERS REGION CONTINUES TO STRENGTHEN. TEMPERATURES ARE GENERALLY TRENDING UPWARD 6-8 DEG F FROM YDAY AND ARE ON TRACK TO REACH PROJECTED HIGHS THIS AFTERNOON WHICH WILL MEAN THAT MOST OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY WILL HAVE HIGHS IN THE TRIPLE DIGITS TODAY. THE FORECAST FOR TODAY LOOKS TO BE ON TRACK WITH MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES AND THE ADVERTISED WARMING TREND. AM THEREFORE NOT PLANNING TO UPDATE THIS MORNING. 12Z WRF IS INDICATING THE WARMING TREND WILL CONTINUE ACROSS OUR AREA ON SUNDAY AND THE INDEPENDENCE DAY HOLIDAY AS 850 MB TEMPERATURES ARE PROGGED TO RIDGE BY ABOUT 1 DEG C EACH DAY. THE STRENGTHENING RIDGE WILL PULL UP SOME TROPICAL MOISTURE INTO SOCAL BY SUNDAY AND INTO OUR AREA BY INDEPENDENCE DAY WHICH WILL ALLOW FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TO TAKE PLACE OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AND TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. THE MEDIUM RANGE MODELS CONTINUE TO ADVERTISE THE SOUTHWESTERN CONUS RIDGE REMAINS THE MAIN FEATURE OVER OUR AREA ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY WITH CONTINUED ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND A MOIST SOUTHEAST FLOW BRINGING OUR AREA SOME MID/HIGH CLOUDS AND A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. THE 00Z ECMWF INDICATES A FAIRLY STRONG SHORTWAVE PUSHING THROUGH NORCAL BY FRIDAY WHICH WOULD FLATTEN THE RIDGE AND TURN THE UPPER FLOW TO THE WEST OR SOUTHWEST. THIS WOULD PUSH THE TROPICAL MOISTURE OUT OF OUR AREA BY NEXT WEEKEND AND WOULD ALSO ALLOW FOR TEMPERATURES TO LOWER A BIT AS HEIGHTS AND THICKNESSES FALL. THE GFS HOWEVER...HAS NOT BEEN AS AGGRESSIVE WITH THIS FEATURE. BECAUSE OF THE MODEL DIFFERENCES FOR LATE IN THE PERIOD...WILL WAIT FOR THE 12Z MODEL RUNS TO ARRIVE BEFORE MAKING ANY MAJOR CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED. && .AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR THROUGH 18Z SUNDAY. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES...ON SATURDAY JULY 2 2011... UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS IN FRESNO... KERN... KINGS... MERCED AND TULARE COUNTIES. FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT VALLEYAIR.ORG && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && PUBLIC...DS AVN/FW...MENDENHALL SYNOPSIS...BSO WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 2, 3:58 AM PST, 7 hours 2 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 458 AM PDT SAT JUL 2 2011 CAZ089>094-031200- WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS- TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS- 458 AM PDT SAT JUL 2 2011 ...FLOOD ADVISORY BELOW RESERVOIRS... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND THE ADJACENT FOOTHILLS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A FLOOD ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR AREA RIVERS IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY NORTH OF KERN COUNTY...DUE TO HIGH RELEASES FROM FOOTHILL DAMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THE FLOOD ADVISORY FOR AREA RIVERS IN THE VALLEY NORTH OF KERN COUNTY WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT OR UNUSUAL CONDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD CAZ098-099-031200- INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 458 AM PDT SAT JUL 2 2011 ...THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE BY MONDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. HOWEVER THE FIRST THUNDERSTORMS OF THE SUMMER MONSOON SEASON MAY REACH THE AREA BY MONDAY OR TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT OR UNUSUAL CONDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
Event by event
4 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Heat, E Central S.J. Valley
- When
- July 2, 11:00 AM PST to July 10, 5:00 PM PST
- Where
- E Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
- Reported by
- Mesonet
Heat, Sw S.J. Valley
- When
- July 2, 11:00 AM PST to July 10, 5:00 PM PST
- Where
- Sw S.J. Valley forecast zone
- Reported by
- Mesonet
Heat, Se S.J. Valley
- When
- July 2, 11:00 AM PST to July 10, 5:00 PM PST
- Where
- Se S.J. Valley forecast zone
- Reported by
- Mesonet
What these are
- Heat
- Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Michigan, July 2, 2011
- Tornado and Hail in Kansas, July 2, 2011
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Indiana, July 2 to 3, 2011
- Hail in Wyoming, July 2, 2011
- Damaging Winds in Arizona, July 2, 2011
- Flooding and Hail in Missouri, July 2 to 4, 2011
- Flash Flood and Hail in Kansas, July 2, 2011
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Illinois, July 2 to 3, 2011
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, July 2, 2011
- Damaging Winds in Texas, July 2, 2011
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Wyoming, July 2, 2011
- Flash Flood and Hail in Indiana, July 2 to 3, 2011
More
Every storm in California in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 2011
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: 338787, 338788, 338789, 338790.