Wildfire in California, June 1 to 15, 2012

Name: Wildfire in California, June 1 to 15, 2012
Start: 2012-06-01T14:39
End: 2012-06-15T18:00
Location: California

June 1 to 15, 2012 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The George wildfire occurred in the Sequoia National Forest. The Ignition date was 6/1/12 at 1539 PDT.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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 George wildfire occurred in the Sequoia National Forest. The Ignition date was 6/1/12 at 1539 PDT. The cause was unknown. The location was 28 miles east of Porterville in Tulare County in the Southern Sierra. The size was 1707 acres. Containment was reached on 6/15/12. There were no fatalities or structures lost. The cost was $6,100,000.

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 Jun 1, 1:11 PM PST, 1 hour 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 1, 1:11 PM PST, 1 hour 28 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
211 PM PDT FRI JUN 1 2012

.SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP SKIES MOSTLY
CLEAR AND HIGH TEMPERATURES ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH SUNDAY. TODAY
THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF A FEW THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER
THE SIERRA CREST. A COOL DOWN WILL TAKE PLACE BEGINNING MONDAY
WHEN ANOTHER ABNORMALLY COOL STORM SYSTEM ENTERS THE REGION.

&&

.DISCUSSION...TEMPERATURES ARE ON TRACK TO REACH THEIR HIGHEST
LEVELS OF 2012 SO FAR AS THE UPPER RIDGE THAT HAS BEEN
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SUMMER LIKE TEMPERATURES HAS SHIFTED INLAND.
WITH TEMPERATURES CURRENTLY RUNNING 3-5 DEG F ABOVE YDAY...MUCH OF
THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY WILL HAVE HIGHS IN THE TRIPLE DIGITS TODAY
WHILE SEVERAL LOCATIONS IN THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS HAVE ALREADY
EXCEEDED 100 DEG F. MEANWHILE...VISIBLE IMAGERY IS SHOWING CUMULUS
BUILDUPS NEAR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA CREST IS MUCH MORE EXTENSIVE
THAN YDAY. WITH CAPE AND INSTABILITY OVER SOUTHERN SIERRAS MUCH
HIGHER THAN YDAY AND SOME UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE APPROACHING THE
AREA...EXPECT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS NEAR AND ALONG THE CREST LATER
THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING.

12Z WRF AND GFS ARE SHOWING THE RIDGE BREAKING DOWN TONIGHT AND
SATURDAY WHICH WILL ALLOW FOR A COOLING TREND TO TAKE PLACE OVER
THE WEEKEND AS THE AN ONSHORE FLOW PATTERN BECOMES MORE
ESTABLISHED AND HEIGHTS AND DIURNAL THICKNESSES FALL. TEMPERATURES
WILL DROP BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS ON MONDAY AS A DEEP UPPER TROUGH
PUSHES INTO NORCAL. WHILE MOST OF THE DEEPER MOISTURE AND STRONG
DYNAMICS WITH THIS SYSTEM ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN NORTH OF OUR
AREA...THE ECMWF HAS BEEN STRONGER WITH THIS SYSTEM AND INDICATES A
POTENTIAL FOR SOME LIGHT PRECIPITATION ON MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT
NORTH OF KERN COUNTY. SINCE THE ECMWF IS SHOWING BETTER RUN TO
RUN CONSISTENCY THAN IT/S COUNTERPARTS...HAVE DECIDED TO LEAN
TOWARD IT AND HAVE RAISED POPS AND SKY COVER FOR THE NORTHERN
PORTION OF OUR AREA FOR MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT. THIS SYSTEM WILL
ALSO PROVIDE A PERIOD OF WINDY CONDITIONS OVER THE KERN COUNTY
MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS ON MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. TEMPERATURES
ARE EXPECTED TO PLUNGE TO MUCH BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS BY TUESDAY
BEHIND THIS SYSTEM AS UNSEASONABLY COOL AIR FILTERS INTO OUR AREA
BEHIND IT. AM PLANNING TO ISSUE A SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT WITH
THE AFTERNOON PACKAGE TO HIGHLIGHT THE CHANGE TO MUCH
COOLER...WINDIER AND POSSIBLY WET WEATHER FOR THE EARLY PART OF
NEXT WEEK.

THE EXTENDED MODELS ARE SHOWING SOME NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCES TODAY
WITH THE 12Z GFS INDICATES A BAGGY TROUGH HANGING OVER CA NEXT
WEEK WHILE THE 12Z ECMWF INDICATES A FLAT RIDGE BUILDING INTO CA.
SINCE THE ECMWF HAS BEEN MORE CONSISTENT HAS BEEN THE MORE
CONSISTENT OF THE EXTENDED MODELS HAVE FOLLOWED THE IDEA OF THE
FLAT RIDGE AND WILL KEEP OUR AREA MOSTLY CLEAR AND DRY FOR
WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY WITH TEMPERATURES REACHING SEASONAL
NORMALS AGAIN BY THE END OF NEXT WEEK.

&&

.AVIATION...ISOLD -TSRA OVER THE SIERRA CREST UNTIL 04Z SATURDAY.
OTHERWISE VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA INTERIOR THROUGH 00Z SUNDAY.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...ON FRIDAY JUNE 1 2012... UNHEALTHY IN
FRESNO COUNTY. UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS IN KERN... KINGS...
MADERA... MERCED... SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK AND FOREST AND TULARE
COUNTIES. FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT VALLEYAIR.ORG

&&

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

&&

PUBLIC...DS
AVN/FW...BEAN
SYNOPSIS...ANDERSEN

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 1, 1:27 PM PST, 1 hour 12 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
227 PM PDT FRI JUN 1 2012

CAZ089>099-012330-
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-KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-
TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-
SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
227 PM PDT FRI JUN 1 2012

...BIG COOL DOWN ON THE WAY...

ANOTHER ABNORMALLY STRONG SYSTEM FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR IS POISED
TO ENTER THE REGION ON MONDAY. THE MAIN IMPACTS WILL BE COOLER
TEMPERATURES...SLIGHT CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION...AND GUSTY WINDS. THE
SYSTEM WILL BRING TEMPERATURES THAT WILL BE RUNNING ABOUT 15 DEG
BELOW NORMAL. COOLER TEMPERATURES WILL BEGIN MONDAY. TUESDAY WILL
BRING HIGH TEMPERATURES ABOUT 25 DEGREES COOLER THAN THE RECENT
HOT WEATHER EXPERIENCED.

MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF
PRECIPITATION ESPECIALLY FOR LOCATIONS NORTH OF FRESNO COUNTY. ANY
PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE LIGHT AT THIS TIME.

THE REGION WILL ALSO BE IMPACTED WITH BREEZY TO GUSTY WINDS AT
TIMES MONDAY AND TUESDAY. GUSTY WINDS WILL BE MOST LIKELY FOR THE
KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERT AREAS ON TUESDAY AS THE STORM
EXITS THE REGION.

ANDERSEN

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Tulare Cty Mtns

When: June 1, 2:39 PM PST to June 15, 6:00 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

Every storm in California in 2012 Every state in 2012 This day in weather history Warnings in California, June 2012

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: 396674.