Wildfire in California, September 4 to 10, 2011

Name: Wildfire in California, September 4 to 10, 2011
Start: 2011-09-04T10:32
End: 2011-09-10T18:00
Location: California

September 4 to 10, 2011 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Canyon wildfire was caused by lightning and occurred on 9/4/11 at 1132 PDT. The location was 5 miles Southeast of Tehachapi in Kern County.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10 million
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.

The Canyon wildfire was caused by lightning and occurred on 9/4/11 at 1132 PDT. The location was 5 miles Southeast of Tehachapi in Kern County. The size was 14,585 acres. Containment was reached on 9/10/11. There were no fatalities. There were 32 primary structures lost and 68 outbuildings. The cost to containment was $10 million.

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 Sep 4, 8:33 AM PST, 1 hour 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 4, 8:33 AM PST, 1 hour 59 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
933 AM PDT SUN SEP 4 2011

.SYNOPSIS...
A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE BUILD OVER THE REGION FOR
ABOVE-NORMAL TEMPERATURES THROUGH MUCH OF THIS WEEK. THE FLOW ALOFT
IS EXPECTED TO TURN SOUTHERLY AND BRING ENOUGH MONSOONAL MOISTURE TO
THE AREA BY LABOR DAY FOR ISOLATED AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS
OVER THE DESERTS AND MOUNTAINS.

&&

.DISCUSSION...SLIGHTLY COOLER THIS MORNING ACROSS THE CENTRAL CA
INTERIOR AND FORECAST IS FOR MAX TEMPS TO BE DOWN JUST A BIT FROM
YESTERDAY. THE UPPER RIDGE OVER ARIZONA AND THE LOW OFF THE COAST
IS STARTING TO DRAW SOME MOISTURE NORTHWARD. THIS IS EVIDENT ON
VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY AS SOME ALTOCUMULUS IS SEEN MOVING UP
OVER THE KERN DESERT WITH MORE HEADED THIS WAY. EXPECTING SOME
CONVECTION RIGHT ALONG THE SOUTHERN SIERRA CREST THIS AFTERNOON
AND POSSIBLY A FEW SHOWERS. A LITTLE BETTER CHANCE DEVELOPS MONDAY
AS THE LOW MOVES OVER NORCAL AS AN OPEN WAVE AND MOISTURE INCREASES.
NO UPDATES AT THIS TIME.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 250 AM PDT SUN SEP 4 2011/

DISCUSSION...
THE FORT ORD PROFILER SHOWED THAT THE MARINE LAYER HAD DEEPENED
AROUND 2000 FEET THIS MORNING...AND SOUTHWEST WINDS AT TRAVIS AFB
ARE BRINGING SOME MARINE AIR THROUGH THE SACRAMENTO DELTA INTO THE
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. AT 08Z /0100 PDT/...TEMPERATURES FROM THE DELTA
UP THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY TO FRESNO WERE SLIGHTLY BELOW PERSISTENCE
AND EXPECT THIS COOLING TREND TO SPREAD INTO THE SOUTH VALLEY BY
DAYBREAK.

HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
SATURDAY RANGED FROM 97 /AT KETTLEMAN CITY AND THE PORTERVILLE
MUNICIPAL AIRPORT/ TO 104 /AT ARVIN/. ARVIN WAS THE HOT SPOT IN THE
HANFORD WARNING/FORECAST AREA...BEATING OUT COALINGA /103/ AND THE
HIGHS OF 102 DEGREES AT BAKERSFIELD...WASCO...THE CHINA LAKE
N.W.T.C. AND TAFT. WITH THE MARINE AIR INTRUSION...TEMPERATURES
TODAY GENERALLY WILL BE A COUPLE OF DEGREES COOLER THAN SATURDAY.

THERE WERE A COUPLE OF SHOWERS NEAR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA CREST
IN FRESNO AND TULARE COUNTIES SATURDAY AFTERNOON. WITH LITTLE CHANGE
IN THE AIRMASS...A REPEAT IS POSSIBLE TODAY AND HAVE ADDED A VERY
SMALL AREA OF SLIGHT CHANCE POPS NEAR THE CREST THIS AFTERNOON.

THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR IS BETWEEN THE UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE
CENTERED OVER ARIZONA THIS MORNING AND THE EAST PACIFIC LOW WEST OF
THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST. THIS PATTERN IS TURNING THE WINDS
ALOFT SOUTHERLY...WHICH WILL ADVECT MONSOONAL MOISTURE INTO THE
HANFORD WARNING/FORECAST AREA. THE LATEST MODEL RUNS ARE DRIER AND
MORE STABLE MONDAY THAN PREVIOUS RUNS...BUT AT THIS TIME PREFER TO
ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION AS THIS IS A HOLIDAY WEEKEND.

THE GFS FORECASTS ANOTHER SURGE OF MONSOONAL MOISTURE INTO THE
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR TOWARD THE END OF THE WEEK...WITH
PRECIPITABLE WATER AMOUNTS OF 0.75+ INCH OVER MUCH OF THE REGION
FRIDAY...AND OVER AN INCH FOR THE CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
SATURDAY. HAVE ADDED SLIGHT CHANCE POPS TO THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS
FOR THE WEEKEND...MAINLY SATURDAY WITH AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW OVER
CALIFORNIA.

TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THIS WEEK AS THE
UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS INTO CALIFORNIA AND THE 500-MB 5880-METER
HEIGHT LINE PUSHES NORTH OF THE HANFORD WARNING/FORECAST AREA TUESDAY
NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. AN UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH DROPS OUT OF THE GULF OF
ALASKA TOWARD THE LATTER PART OF THE WEEK...COLLAPSING THE RIDGE AND
PRODUCING THE AFOREMENTIONED LOW FRIDAY AFTERNOON OVER THE CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA COAST.

TEMPERATURES WILL COOL BACK TO NEAR NORMAL NEXT WEEKEND FROM THE
COMBINATION OF SYNOPTIC COOLING...INCREASED CLOUDS AND THE INFLUX OF
MARINE AIR.

&&

.AVIATION...
POSSIBLE ISOLATED CONVECTION OVER THE SIERRA NEVADA CREST
BETWEEN 18Z TODAY AND 00Z MONDAY...PRODUCING LOCAL MVFR CONDITIONS.
OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS ACROSS THE CENTRAL CA INTERIOR THRU 12Z
MONDAY.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 4 2011... UNHEALTHY IN TULARE COUNTY.
UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS IN FRESNO... KERN... KINGS AND
MADERA COUNTIES.
FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT VALLEYAIR.ORG

&&

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

PUBLIC...DCH/SANGER
AVN/FW...DUDLEY
SYNOPSIS...BSO

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 4, 3:40 AM PST, 6 hours 52 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
440 AM PDT SUN SEP 4 2011

CAZ095>099-051200-
KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-
TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-
SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
440 AM PDT SUN SEP 4 2011

...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE LABOR DAY...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA
NEVADA...THE TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS AND THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING
THUNDERSTORMS LABOR DAY...AND AGAIN ON SATURDAY. OTHERWISE...
HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.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.

SANGER

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Kern Cty Mtns

When: September 4, 10:32 AM PST to September 10, 6:00 PM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Property damage: $10 million
Reported by: Fire Department/Rescue

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 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in California, September 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: 350035.