Name: Wildfire in California, September 1 to 30, 2013
Start: 2013-09-01T00:00
End: 2013-09-30T23:59
Location: California

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 5
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 STO wrote it up.

The Rim Fire was a wildfire that began in the Groveland Range District of the Stanislaus National Forest on August 17th.

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 Sacramento, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 31, 9:05 PM PST, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 9:05 PM PST, 2 hours 55 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
1005 PM PDT SAT AUG 31 2013

.SYNOPSIS...
LOW PRESSURE WILL BRING LOCALLY BREEZY MOUNTAIN AND DELTA WINDS,
AND COOLER TEMPS SUNDAY THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. SUBTROPICAL
MOISTURE MAY BRING SIERRA SHOWERS WITH POSSIBLE VALLEY
SPRINKLES/LIGHT SHOWERS LATE SUNDAY THROUGH LABOR DAY. CONDITIONS
WILL REMAIN DRY WITH NEAR SEASONAL TEMPERATURES FOR THE MIDDLE
PART OF NEXT WEEK WITH GRADUAL WARMING INTO THE NEXT WEEKEND.

.DISCUSSION...
UPPER RIDGE OVER THE AREA WILL GRADUALLY PUSH EAST AS UPPER LOW
OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC MOVES TO THE NORTHWEST STATES. MID-LEVEL
MOISTURE WILL MOVE NORTH OVER NORCAL IN THE SOUTH FLOW AHEAD OF
THIS SYSTEM LATE TONIGHT AND TOMORROW. THERE IS LITTLE MOISTURE OR
LIFT...BUT ALTO CUMULUS MAY FORM PRODUCING A FEW SPRINKLES.
ALREADY SEEING MID LEVEL CLOUDINESS FORMING OVER THE CENT/SRN
VALLEY AND WILL LEAVE MORNING SPRINKLES IN THE FORECAST.
TEMPERATURES ARE RUNNING 3 TO 6 DEGREES COOLER VERSUS YESTERDAY AT
THIS TIME WITH ONSHORE FLOW. CURRENT FORECAST IS ON TRACK AND NO
EVENING UPDATE WILL BE NEEDED.

.PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...
LOW PRESSURE REMAINS WELL OFF THE COAST WITH HIGH PRESSURE OVER
THE DESERT SOUTHWEST. SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE IS MOVING TOWARDS
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND WE SHOULD START TO SEE SOME CLOUDS MOVING
OVER THE SOUTHERN AREAS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND THICKEN UP
OVERNIGHT. STABILITY IS NOT LOOKING ALL THAT GREAT FOR
THUNDERSTORM PRODUCTION WITH THE BATCH OF MOISTURE MOVING NORTH
THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS BUT WITH OROGRAPHIC LIFT MAYBE SOME
SHOWERS OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH SPRINKLES IN
THE VALLEY.

THE DELTA BREEZE WILL INCREASE THIS EVENING AND TEMPERATURES WILL
MAINLY FALL INTO THE LOW TO MID 60S WITHIN THE VALLEY OVERNIGHT.
THE CLOUDS MOVING UP FROM THE SOUTH SHOULD KEEP TEMPERATURES
SLIGHTLY WARMER OVERNIGHT. SUNDAYS HIGHS WILL COOL OFF INTO THE 80S TO
LOWER 90S DUE TO A COMBINATION OF SOME SYNOPTIC COOLING AND CLOUD
COVER. CONTINUED COOLING OF THE AIR MASS IS EXPECTED FOR MONDAY AS
THE LOW PRESSURE AREA MOVES CLOSER TO THE COAST AND WHILE NOT AS
EXTENSIVE THEIR SHOULD BE SOME CLOUDS AROUND ON MONDAY AS WELL TO
HELP COOL TEMPERATURES.

BY TUESDAY THE LOW WILL BE PUSHING ALL THE MONSOONAL MOISTURE TO
THE EAST OF OUR AREA. I HAVE LEFT IN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF A
THUNDERSTORM NEAR ALPINE COUNTY FOR NOW AND NEAR THE CREST BUT
OTHER THAN THAT WE TURN DRY WITH SEASONAL TEMPERATURES.

.EXTENDED DISCUSSION (WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY)

MEDIUM RANGE MODELS PAINTING A SIMILAR PICTURE IN KEEPING PACIFIC
UPPER LOW OFF THE PAC NW COAST THROUGH THURSDAY THEN MOVING IT
INLAND LATE THURSDAY INTO EARLY FRIDAY. 12Z OPER GFS HAS BECOME
MORE LIKE THE ECMWF-HIRES IN THE SENSE OF LIFTING THE LOW NE
FRIDAY, RATHER THAN DRIVING IT WESTWARD THROUGH THE STRONG
DOWNSTREAM RIDGE. HOWEVER IT DIFFERS IN KEEPING IT QUASISTATIONARY
OVER NW WASH OVER THE WEEKEND WHILE THE OTHERS ARE MORE
PROGRESSIVE. BOTH SCENARIOS KEEP THE LOW FAR ENOUGH NORTHWARD TO
CONTINUE A DRY FORECAST. INCREASING THICKNESSES POINTING TO A
GRADUAL WARMING THROUGH THE EXTENDED FORECAST PERIOD.

&&

.AVIATION...

SWLY FLOW ALF AS INTR NORCAL RMNS BTWN OFSHR UPR LOW AND HI PRES
TO E. VFR CONDS NXT 24 HRS EXC LCL MVFR TO LIFR CONDS IN FU VCNTY
RIM FIRE IN TUOLUMNE CNTY. LCL S-SW SFC WND GSTS TO 25 KTS THRU
DELTA OVNGT AND OVR HYR TRRN BTWN 21Z-04Z.

&&

.STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada

When: September 1, 12:00 AM PST to September 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where: West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada forecast zone
Injuries: 5 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: Park/Forest Service

The Rim Fire was a wildfire that started on August 17th at around 3:15pm PDT in Tuolumne County. It was located in the Groveland Range District of Stanislaus National Forest. The fire grew to be the 3rd largest wildfire in California's history, at 257,314 acres. For the TOTAL FIRE EVENT: It cost approximately $127.2 million, caused 10 injuries, burned 11 residences, 3 commercial properties, and 98 outbuildings. For the month of SEPTEMBER ONLY: 34,358 more acres, additional $65.8 million, 5 additional injuries, 0 new residences, 0 new commercial properties, and 1 new outbuildings.

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

More

Every storm in California in 2013 Every state in 2013 This day in weather history Warnings in California, September 2013

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: 476865.