California, 2014

Wildfire in California, January 13 to 31, 2014

January 13 to 31, 2014 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Soda Wildfire was in Sequoia NF. Ignition date was 1/13/14 and the cause was known.

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 Soda Wildfire was in Sequoia NF. Ignition date was 1/13/14 and the cause was known. Location was 20 miles E of Springville (Tulare County) and the size was 1274 acres. Containment was likely reached when the fire received 9 inches of snow on Jan 30-31. Cost to containment was $168,000.

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 Jan 12, 5:31 PM PST, 6 hours 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 12, 5:31 PM PST, 6 hours 29 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
531 PM PST SUN JAN 12 2014

.UPDATE...UPDATED SYNOPSIS AND AVIATION SECTIONS

&&

.SYNOPSIS...
SKIES WILL REMAIN MOSTLY CLEAR AS HIGH PRESSURE RIDGING CONTINUES.
HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL BE SEVERAL DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND
CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN DRY THROUGH MOST OF THE WEEK.

&&

.DISCUSSION...WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS THE COASTAL VORTICITY
CENTER MOVING RAPIDLY SOUTHWARD AND AS IT DOES, THE MID AND HIGH
CLOUD SHIELD IS PEELING AWAY. MEANWHILE OVER PARTS OF THE SAN
JOAQUIN VALLEY, FOOTHILLS AND THE NORTHWEST FACING SLOPES OF THE
KERN COUNTY CLOUDS CONTINUE TO PILE UP IN THE NORTHWEST POST
FRONTAL FLOW. COVERAGE OVER THE OPEN PORTION OF THE SJV IS
DIMINISHING HOWEVER IN THE UPSLOPE AREAS THE STRATUS WILL PERSIST
WELL INTO THE NIGHT. LATER TONIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING THE FLOW
WILL TURN TO THE NORTHEAST AND AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS
INTO THE GREAT BASIN, A NORTHEAST WIND EVENT WILL SET UP OVER THE
KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS. THIS SHOULD PUT A QUICK END TO ANY
REMAINING CLOUDS AS THE UPSLOPE TURNS TO DOWNSLOPE.

BIG RIDGE IS PROGGED TO MOVE INTO THE WEST THIS UPCOMING WEEK AND
THIS IS VERY "NORMAL" FOR THIS VERY DRY YEAR. TEMPERATURES MAY
APPROACH OR BREAK RECORDS UNDER THE STRONG RIDGE. FOR THOSE
COUNTING ON RAIN THIS WEEKEND, IT IS LOOKING DISMAL AS MODELS
CONTINUE TO TREND A WEAKER, PROGRESSIVE SYSTEM WITH A MORE
NORTHERLY TRACK.

&&

.AVIATION...
IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL
EXCEPT FOR AREAS OF MVFR VISIBILITIES IN HAZE/MIST AFTER 10Z MONDAY
AND LOCAL IFR VISIBILITIES IN MIST BETWEEN 12Z AND 17Z
MONDAY. VFR CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE
CENTRAL CA INTERIOR DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
NONE.

&&

.CERTAINTY...

THE LEVEL OF CERTAINTY FOR DAYS 1 AND 2 IS HIGH.
THE LEVEL OF CERTAINTY FOR DAYS 3 THROUGH 7 IS HIGH.

THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED AS PART OF A TRIAL PROJECT CONDUCTED
BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD.
CERTAINTY LEVELS INCLUDE LOW...MEDIUM...AND HIGH. PLEASE VISIT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HNX/CERTAINTY.PHP /ALL LOWER CASE/ FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION AND/OR TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK.

&&

.CLIMATE...
             RECORDS
SITE DATE    HI_MAX:YEAR LO_MAX:YEAR HI_MIN:YEAR LO_MIN:YEAR

KFAT 01-12       67:2003     38:1926     56:1980     20:1902
KFAT 01-13       70:2000     38:1926     60:1980     19:1963
KFAT 01-14       68:2012     38:1888     56:1978     22:1963

KBFL 01-12       73:1914     39:1929     61:1980     21:1949
KBFL 01-13       74:2012     39:1929     62:1980     20:1963
KBFL 01-14       74:1938     38:1926     57:1978     23:2007
&&

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

PUBLIC...DUDLEY
AVN/FW...DS
SYNOPSIS...WP

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Tulare Cty Mtns

When
January 13, 12:00 AM PST to January 31, 12:00 AM 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

More

Every storm in California in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 2014

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: 510074.