From the 26rd through the end of the month, smoke from the massive Rim Fire near Yosemite brought periods of low visibility and unhealthy air quality to portions of eastern California.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 REV wrote it up.
From the 26rd through the end of the month, smoke from the massive Rim Fire near Yosemite brought periods of low visibility and unhealthy air quality to portions of eastern California.
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 Reno, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 26, 1:05 AM PST, 11 hours 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV 205 AM PDT MON AUG 26 2013 .SYNOPSIS... SMOKE FROM WILDFIRES WILL AFFECT PARTS OF EASTERN CALIFORNIA AND WESTERN NEVADA EARLY THIS WEEK WITH PERSISTENT SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. A WEAK MOISTURE SURGE WILL BRING A CHANCE FOR AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS SOUTH OF I-80 TUESDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN NEAR NORMAL. && .SHORT TERM... DRY SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH SMOKE INTO WESTERN NEVADA FROM THE AMERICAN AND RIM FIRES THROUGH TONIGHT. HOWEVER, YESTERDAY AFTERNOON SOME LOCATIONS IN THE SIERRA AND WESTERN NEVADA SAW DRAMATIC IMPROVEMENT IN VISIBILITY AND AIR QUALITY CONDITIONS AS THE RIM FIRE WAS NOT AS ACTIVE AS PREVIOUS DAYS. AREAS OF SMOKE WILL BE MORE PRONOUNCED EARLY IN THE MORNING BEFORE CLEARING LATE THIS MORNING, BUT DEPENDING ON HOW ACTIVE THE FIRE BURNS TODAY WE MAY SEE A RETURN OF POOR AIR QUALITY CONDITIONS BY THIS AFTERNOON. LOCATIONS MOST LIKELY TO BE IMPACTED BY SMOKE WILL BE LOCATED SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 50 IN EL DORADO COUNTY, ALPINE COUNTY, AND NORTHERN MONO COUNTY. SYNOPTIC PATTERN CHANGES ON TUESDAY AS UPPER LEVEL FLOW SHIFTS FROM SOUTHWESTERLY TO A MORE SOUTHERLY DIRECTION. INCREASED SOUTHERLY FLOW ACROSS THE SIERRA AND WESTERN NEVADA WILL ALLOW A RETURN OF MOISTURE TO THE REGION, RESULTING IN INCREASED CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING. FORECAST MODELS HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING WITH THE PATTERN CHANGE, AS A FEW PLAYERS ARE INVOLVED: REMNANTS OF TROPICAL CYCLONE IVO OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, MONSOONAL MOISTURE (OVER SOUTHERN NEVADA) MOVING ALONG THE WESTERN PERIPHERY OF THE HIGH PRESSURE ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS, AND A LONGWAVE TROUGH OFF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST. CURRENTLY, MODELS BRING MONSOONAL MOISTURE FAR ENOUGH WEST TO WARRANT AT LEAST A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS AREAS SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80. MODELS ALSO APPEAR TO COMBINE THE REMNANTS OF IVO WITH THE MONSOONAL MOISTURE AND PUSH THEM NORTHWARD ACROSS CENTRAL NEVADA BY LATE TUESDAY INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY. FOR NOW, BEST CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA, BUT CANNOT RULE OUT THE POSSIBILITY OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY AS UPPER LEVEL JET INTERACTIONS WILL PRODUCE LIFT ACROSS PORTIONS OF CHURCHILL AND PERSHING COUNTIES. WITH UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE ALOFT, EXPECT THAT ANY SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP TUESDAY AFTERNOON MAY PERSIST OVERNIGHT, SO ADDED A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THAT TIME FRAME. BY WEDNESDAY, SOME MODELS SHOW THE RETURN OF SOUTHWEST FLOW WHILE OTHERS MAINTAIN MORE SOUTHERLY FLOW WITH RESIDUAL MOISTURE ACROSS NEVADA. MODELS CONTINUE TO VARY WITH WHERE THE SHARP MOISTURE BOUNDARY WILL BE LOCATED, SO IT IS DIFFICULT TO TELL WHERE THE BEST CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE. HEDGED TOWARDS THE GFS, WHICH BRINGS STABILIZING SOUTHWEST FLOW TO THE AREA AND LIMITS THUNDERSTORM CHANCES FOR WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. LINDAMAN .LONG TERM...THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... TROUGH WILL DROP SOUTHEASTWARD FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA THU-FRI AND THEN CENTER NEAR THE PACNW THIS WEEKEND. THE ECMWF TRENDED SHARPER AND SLOWER WITH TROUGH AND IN FACT ITS 00Z RUN IS SLOWER THAN THE GFS WITH ITS CENTER OFF THE WA-OR COAST AS OPPOSED TO THE GFS CENTER JUST INLAND OVER WA-OR BY SUNDAY. THE EXACT ORIENTATION AND LOCATION OF TROUGH WILL HAVE CONSEQUENCES ON WHAT KIND OF WEATHER WE WILL SEE ACROSS THE SIERRA AND WESTERN NV AS DEEP MONSOONAL MOISTURE WILL BE JUST SOUTH AND EAST OF AREA. THE ECMWF WOULD SUPPORT MORE CONVECTION AS IT NOW HAS A SOUTHERLY COMPONENT AND TROUGH AXIS OFFSHORE WHILE THE GFS INLAND SOLUTION WOULD HAVE MORE WEST FLOW ALOFT AND RESULT IN BREEZY BUT DRY CONDITIONS. WHILE THE DETERMINISTIC GFS HAS HAD BETTER CONTINUITY, IT IS THE OUTLIER AMONG A NUMBER OF OTHER MODELS WHICH SHOW A REASONABLE AGREEMENT AT 168 HOURS WITH THE ECMWF. SO CONFIDENCE IS NOT VERY HIGH WITH THE FORECAST THIS LABOR DAY WEEKEND. CHOSE TO MAKE ONLY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS AND WAIT TO SEE MODEL TRENDS FOR ANOTHER DAY. LOWERED THE WINDS SLIGHTLY TOWARD COMPROMISE BUT STILL KEPT THEM IN THE BREEZY CATEGORY. ALSO RAISED TEMPS A DEGREE OR TWO. READINGS WILL BE ABOUT 5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL TO START PERIOD BEFORE FALLING TO NEAR CLIMO THIS WEEKEND. HOHMANN && .AVIATION... SMOKE WILL BE THE PRIMARY IMPACT FOR AVIATORS AS BOTH THE RIM AND AMERICAN FIRES CONTINUE TO BURN ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE SIERRA IN A GENERAL SOUTHWEST FLOW PATTERN. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME A BIT MORE SOUTHERLY TUESDAY WHICH COULD BRING THE SMOKE A BIT FURTHER NORTH AGAIN. HOWEVER A LOT WILL DEPEND ON HOW HOT THE FIRES BURN. THE SMOKE OUTPUT FROM THE FIRES HAS SLOWED THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS AND THEREFORE THERE HAS BEEN SOME IMPROVEMENT. HOWEVER CIGS/VSBY WILL FALL TO MVFR LEVELS AT TIMES WITH LOCALLY WORST CONDITIONS OCCURRING UNDERNEATH THE MAIN SMOKE PLUME AS IT CROSSES THE SIERRA CREST. CONFIDENCE IS LOW-MEDIUM ON SPECIFICS AND WILL MAKE FEW CHANGES TO ONGOING FORECAST AT TAF SITES. HOHMANN && .REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NV...NONE. CA...NONE. && FOR MORE INFORMATION FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VISIT... HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RENO (ALL LOWER CASE)
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 dense smoke. Local standard time, as filed.
Spotters in the Antelope Valley near Coleville indicated periodic low visibility due to smoke from the Rim Fire. In addition, visibilities from the Mountain Warfare Training Center (KBAN) indicated visibilities down to 1/2 mile as times.
Dense smoke and the associated poor air quality from the Rim Fire continued to periodically affect Alpine County through the end of the month although areas north near South Lake Tahoe generally saw some improvement after the 28th. Medical facilities in the South Lake Tahoe area noted around 5 to 10 visits per day related to respiratory problems (versus 1 or 2 a day normally in late summer) through the 28th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in California, August 2013
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: 474856, 474859.