The Powerhouse Fire burned 30,274 acres of land across the Antelope Valley and the mountains of Los Angeles county. The fire, which started on May 30th, was driven by the combination of gusty onshore (southwesterly) winds and very dry fuels.
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 LOX wrote it up.
The Powerhouse Fire burned 30,274 acres of land across the Antelope Valley and the mountains of Los Angeles county. The fire, which started on May 30th, was driven by the combination of gusty onshore (southwesterly) winds and very dry fuels.
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 Los Angeles, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 31, 9:40 PM PST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA 1040 PM PDT FRI MAY 31 2013 NEW AVIATION DISCUSSION .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE AND LIGHT OFFSHORE WINDS WILL WARM TEMPERATURES WELL ABOVE NORMAL...INLAND AND ALONG THE CENTRAL COAST...WHILE KEEPING THE REST OF THE COASTAL AREAS COOLER WITH THE MARINE INFLUENCE ON SATURDAY. A SWITCH TO COOLER TEMPERATURES IN ALL AREAS WILL BEGIN SUNDAY AND RUN THROUGH MIDWEEK. && .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT-MON)...UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE COMBINED WITH WEAK OFFSHORE PRESSURE TRENDS WILL BRING HOT AND DRY CONDITIONS TO INTERIOR SECTION ON SATURDAY. IN THE SHORT TERM...SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWING MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THIS EVENING WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A SMOKE LAYER FROM POWERHOUSE FIRE. LOW CLOUDS AND FOG CURRENTLY CONFINED TO COASTAL AREAS OF ORANGE AND SAN DIEGO COUNTIES. EDDY CIRCULATION IN PLACE WILL BRING LOW CLOUDS AND FOG NORTHWARD OVERNIGHT INTO THE COASTAL PORTIONS OF LOS ANGELES AND VENTURA COUNTIES AS WELL AS THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY. LATEST ACARS DATA SHOWING SOME SHRINKAGE OF THE MARINE LAYER DEPTH...CURRENTLY AROUND 1200 FEET ACROSS THE LOS ANGELES BASIN. LIGHT OFFSHORE BREEZES ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ON SATURDAY MORNING ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS...DESERTS...AND INTERIOR VALLEYS. MOST OF THE WIND SPEEDS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN THE 10 TO 20 MPH RANGE...BUT COULD SEE SOME GUSTS AS HIGH AS 30 MPH IN THE MOUNTAINS. THIS OFFSHORE WIND COMPONENT WILL BRING RAPID WARMING AND DRYING TO INTERIOR SECTIONS. MOST INLAND AREAS WILL CLIMB WELL INTO THE 90S ON SATURDAY...WITH A FEW OF THE WARMER INTERIOR LOCATIONS EXPECTED TO BREAK THE 100 DEGREE MARK. AN OFFSHORE WIND COMPONENT WILL ALSO BRING SIGNIFICANT WARMING TO PORTIONS OF THE CENTRAL COAST ON SATURDAY...WITH MANY AREAS EXPECTED TO CLIMB INTO THE 80S AND 90S. IN EVENING UPDATE...WILL BUMP UP TEMPERATURES A BIT MORE FOR AREAS NEAR PISMO BEACH/PORT SAN LUIS AS IT APPEARS THERE COULD BE SOME DOWNSLOPE WARMING IN THOSE AREAS TOMORROW. WE COULD SEE A FEW LOCATIONS APPROACH RECORD LEVELS ON SATURDAY. THE HOT AND DRY CONDITIONS COMBINED WITH NORTHEAST BREEZES WILL BRING ELEVATED FIRE DANGER THROUGH SATURDAY TO THE MOUNTAINS AND INTERIOR VALLEYS. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS...PLEASE REFER TO THE FIRE WEATHER DISCUSSION BELOW. *** FROM PREVIOUS DISCUSSION *** OUR ONE DAY HEAT WAVE ENDS SATURDAY, WITH SIGNIFICANT COOLING EVERYWHERE SUNDAY, BUT MOST NOTICEABLE ALONG THE CENTRAL COAST WHICH WILL SEE HIGHS FALL A GOOD 15-20 DEGREES ON AVERAGE AS THE MARINE LYR STARTS SURGING NORTHWARD. MOST OTHER AREAS WILL BE 5-10 DEGREES COOLER. THE DEEPENING TROF ALONG THE COAST SUNDAY INTO MONDAY WILL RESULT IN RAPID DEEPENING OF THE MARINE LYR WITH COOLER AIR SPREADING FURTHER INLAND. LOW CLOUDS WILL ALSO PUSH WELL INTO THE VALLEYS BY MONDAY MORNING. ONSHORE GRADIENTS EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO BETWEEN 8 AND 10 MB SO CLOUDS WILL LIKELY BE SLOW TO CLEAR AND LINGERING AT SOME BEACHES THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. SST'S CURRENTLY ON THE WARM SIDE WITH SOME LOWER 70S BEING REPORTED ALONG ORANGE COUNTY SO DAYTIME HIGHS AND OVERNIGHT LOWS MAY BE A LITTLE WARMER THAN WOULD OTHERWISE BE EXPECTED IN THIS SORT OF PATTERN. .LONG TERM (TUE-FRI)...VERY LITTLE CHANGE EXPECTED TUESDAY. IN FACT, THE TROF REMAINS IN PLACE UNTIL ABOUT THU. HOWEVER, HEIGHTS START RISING OVER THE AREA BY WEDNESDAY AND MODELS INDICATE SOME WARMING FOR THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK, ESPECIALLY BY FRI AS A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE NOSES IN TO THE NORTH. && .AVIATION... 01/0540Z GOOD CONFIDENCE IN VFR CONDS AT ALL SITES XCP NR CSTL SITES FROM KLGB TO KOXR. BEST CHC OF CIGS KLGB TO KSMO AND A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF CIGS FROM KNTD TO KOXR. KLAX...MODERATE CONFIDENCE IN TAF. A 30 PERCENT CHANCE THAT CIGS COULD BE OVC007. CIGS COULD ARRIVE AS EARLY AS 08Z. GOOD CONFIDENCE IN 17Z CLEARING. KBUR...HIGH CONFIDENCE IN CAVU TAF. && .FIRE WEATHER... UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE COMBINED WITH WEAK OFFSHORE PRESSURE TRENDS NEAR THE SURFACE WILL CONTINUE TO BRING FURTHER WARMING AND DRYING TO INTERIOR SECTIONS ON SATURDAY. POOR HUMIDITY RECOVERY EXPECTED TONIGHT ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS...FOLLOWED BY WIDESPREAD SINGLE DIGIT HUMIDITIES ON SATURDAY ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS...DESERTS...AND INTERIOR VALLEYS. FOR THE POWERHOUSE FIRE BURN AREA...WINDS WILL GENERALLY REMAIN LIGHT NORTHWEST THIS EVENING...THEN SHIFT TO THE NORTH AFTER MIDNIGHT. ON SATURDAY MORNING...THE FLOW WILL TURN NORTHEAST. ON SATURDAY...NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 20 MPH WILL BE COMMON...WITH OCCASIONAL GUSTS AS HIGH AS 30 MPH AT RIDGETOP LEVEL. PEAK NORTHEAST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO OCCUR BETWEEN 9 AM AND 2 PM ON SATURDAY. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN NORTHEAST UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON WHEN A RAPID SHIFT TO A SOUTHWEST DIRECTION IS EXPECTED WHICH WILL CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS. HUMIDITY RECOVERY AT THE POWERHOUSE FIRE WILL BE POOR TONIGHT...GENERALLY REMAINING IN THE 15 TO 25 PERCENT RANGE. ON SATURDAY...THE NORTHEAST FLOW WILL LIKELY BRING SEVERAL HOURS OF SINGLE DIGIT HUMIDITIES. THE HOT...VERY DRY...AND UNSTABLE CONDITIONS WILL ALLOW FOR SIGNIFICANT PLUME GROWTH POTENTIAL DURING PEAK HEATING HOURS IN THE AFTERNOON. WHILE THERE WILL LIKELY BE BRIEF CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ON SATURDAY...THERE DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE SUFFICIENT DURATION TO WARRANT A RED FLAG WARNING. && .LOX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GALE WARNING (SEE LAXMWWLOX). SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY (SEE LAXMWWLOX). HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK (SEE LAXSRFLOX). && PUBLIC...GOMBERG/MW FIRE WEATHER...GOMBERG AVIATION...ASR SYNOPSIS...B WWW.WEATHER.GOV/LOSANGELES
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA 600 AM PDT FRI MAY 31 2013 CAZ034>041-044>046-051>054-059-087-088-547-548-011300- SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY CENTRAL COAST- SANTA BARBARA COUNTY CENTRAL COAST-SANTA YNEZ VALLEY- SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY INTERIOR VALLEYS-CUYAMA VALLEY- SANTA BARBARA COUNTY SOUTH COAST-VENTURA COUNTY COAST- LOS ANGELES COUNTY COAST INCLUDING DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES- VENTURA COUNTY INTERIOR VALLEYS-VENTURA COUNTY COASTAL VALLEYS- SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS RECREATIONAL AREA- SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- SANTA BARBARA COUNTY MOUNTAINS-VENTURA COUNTY MOUNTAINS- LOS ANGELES COUNTY MOUNTAINS EXCLUDING THE SANTA MONICA RANGE- ANTELOPE VALLEY-CATALINA ISLAND-SANTA CLARITA VALLEY- LOS ANGELES COUNTY SAN FERNANDO VALLEY- LOS ANGELES COUNTY SAN GABRIEL VALLEY- 600 AM PDT FRI MAY 31 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE... TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG NW WINDS WILL PERSIST ACROSS THE OUTER WATERS TODAY WITH GUSTS BETWEEN 35 AND 40 KNOTS TODAY THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. THERE WILL ALSO BE A HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK TODAY FOR THE BEACHES OF VENTURA AND LOS ANGELES COUNTIES. * GALE WARNING...............SEE WHUS76 KLOX - MWWLOX FOR DETAILS * * HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK......SEE FZUS56 KLOX - SRFLOX FOR DETAILS * .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY GALE WINDS WILL PERSIST THROUGH SUNDAY ACROSS THE OUTER WATERS WITH STRONGEST WINDS LIKELY ACROSS THE WESTERN PORTION. EXPECT NORTHWEST WINDS 20 TO 30 KNOTS WITH GUSTS BETWEEN 35 AND 40 KNOTS. COULD BE LOCALLY STRONGER SATURDAY EVENING. HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL BE WARMING UP FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WITH HOTTEST VALLEYS IN THE 90S APPROACHING TRIPLE DIGITS. SOME COOLING FOR SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. * GALE WARNING...............SEE WHUS76 KLOX - MWWLOX FOR DETAILS * .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. KAPLAN
2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Powerhouse Fire burned 30,274 acres of land across the Antelope Valley and mountains of Los Angeles county. The fire, which started on May 30th, was driven by the combination of very dry fuels and gusty onshore (southwesterly) winds. The fire was eventually declared contained on June 12th.
The Powerhouse Fire burned 30,274 acres of land across the Antelope Valley and mountains of Los Angeles county. The fire, which started on May 30th, was driven by the combination of very dry fuels and gusty onshore (southwesterly) winds. The fire was eventually declared contained on June 12th.
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, June 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: 454612, 454613.