California, 2015

Wildfire in California, July 30 to 31, 2015

July 30 to 31, 2015 · NWS MFR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Frog Wildfire was started by lightning at around 1645 PST on 07/30/2015. As of 0330 PST on 08/01/2015, the fire covered 1000 acres and was 10 percent contained.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
1
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 MFR wrote it up.

The Frog Wildfire was started by lightning at around 1645 PST on 07/30/2015. As of 0330 PST on 08/01/2015, the fire covered 1000 acres and was 10 percent contained. 400,000 dollars had been spent on firefighting efforts.

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 Medford, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 30, 4:20 PM PST, 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 30, 4:20 PM PST, 25 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
520 PM PDT THU JUL 30 2015

.UPDATE...SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED
OVER SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL SISKIYOU COUNTY. THESE STORMS ARE
ASSOCIATED INCREASING MID AND UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE MOVING INTO
THE AREA ALONG WITH A SHORTWAVE DISTURBANCE. THESE STORMS ARE
EXPECTED TO LINGER THROUGH THE EVENING THEN DIMINISH. FURTHER
EAST, ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE THIS
EVENING IN EASTERN SISKIYOU AND MODOC COUNTY. FURTHER NORTH IN
OREGON, EXPECT MAINLY JUST CUMULUS CLOUD DEVELOPMENT. HAVE UPDATED
THE FORECAST FOR THESE STORMS. ALSO EXPANDED THE RED FLAG WARNING
FOR DRY AND UNSTABLE FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS IN CENTRAL DOUGLASCOUNTY
TO INCLUDE THE STOUT FIRE 11 MILES EAST OF CANYONVILLE.

&&

.AVIATION...FOR THE 31/00Z TAF CYCLE...TWO WILDFIRES ARE NOW
BURNING IN DOUGLAS COUNTY, ALTHOUGH MIXING HAS INCREASED DURING PEAK
HEATING SO VISIBILITY IS CURRENTLY AT 6 MILES. STILL EXPECTING HAZE
AND SMOKE FOR THE OVERNIGHT HOURS.  KOTH WILL ALSO SEE SOME LOW
CEILINGS AND FOG TONIGHT WITH WEAK ONSHORE WINDS, SO IFR AND LIFR
CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED.  ALSO OF NOTE SOME WEAK THUNDERSTORMS ARE
ONGOING IN SISKIYOU COUNTY, YET NOT EXPECTING THEM TO PUSH PAST THE
OREGON CALIFORNIA BORDER. -CZS

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 307 PM PDT THU JUL 30 2015/

SHORT TERM...THE ATMOSPHERE WILL CONTINUE TO BE VERY WARM AND DRY
THROUGH FRIDAY. THE THERMAL TROUGH SHIFTS BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN
THE COAST AND INLAND. MEANWHILE MID TO HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE WILL
STREAM NORTHWARD ON FRIDAY. FOR MOST OF FRIDAY, THE WEATHER SHOULD
BE RELATIVELY QUIET WITH MAINLY CUMULUS BUILDUP. THUNDERSTORM
CHANCE WILL BE CONFINED MAINLY FOR MOUNTAINS DURING THE DAY.
HOWEVER, BOTH THE GFS AND NAM12 SHOW SHORT WAVE DISTURBANCE
APPROACHING SISKIYOU AND MODOC COUNTIES FROM THE SOUTH. THIS COULD
LEAD TO THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT FROM FRIDAY EVENING THROUGH
FRIDAY NIGHT. DEPENDING ON HOW STRONG THIS SHORT WAVE IS, THE
STORM COULD CONTINUE INTO FRIDAY NIGHT. AT THIS POINT CONFIDENCE
IS ONLY MODERATE AS THERE IS ALSO MID LEVEL CAP THAT COULD PREVENT
THE CLOUDS FROM BUILDING INTO A THUNDERSTORM CLOUD.

ON SATURDAY A STRONGER SHORT WAVE TROUGH IS EXPECTED TO MOVE
THROUGH THE AREA. THUNDERSTORM CHANCE LOOKS GREATEST FROM THE
CASCADES EAST WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SISKIYOU COUNTY AND THE
SISKIYOU MOUNTAINS. THE OVERALL PATTERN CONTINUES INTO SUNDAY WITH
THUNDERSTORM CHANCES.

LONG TERM...(MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY)
THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW TURNS TOWARD THE SW ON MONDAY AS ANOTHER
TROUGH APPROACHES THE COAST. THERE IS ALSO ANOTHER TROUGH DROPPING
INTO THE PACIFIC NW. THIS WILL HELP BRING DOWN TEMPERATURES WITH
HIGHS IN THE ROGUE VALLEY DOWN INTO THE 90S. THERE WILL STILL BE
PLENTY OF MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
IN OUR FORECAST AREA. /FB

MARINE...UPDATED 200 PM PDT THURSDAY 30 JULY 2015...A THERMAL
TROUGH NEAR THE COAST WILL CONTINUE TO WEAKEN THROUGH FRIDAY WHEN IT
WILL MOVE INLAND. NORTH WINDS AND WIND-DRIVEN SEAS WILL CREATE SMALL
CRAFT FOR WAVES IN THE OUTER WATERS FRIDAY EVENING SATURDAY MORNING.
SUSTAINED NORTH WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EXTENDED FORECAST
PERIOD. -CZS

&&

.MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...FIRE WEATHER WATCH FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY
     EVENING FOR ORZ619>623.
     RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 9 PM PDT FRIDAY FOR ORZ616.
     HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 11 PM PDT SATURDAY FOR ORZ023.
     HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 11 PM PDT SATURDAY FOR ORZ024-026.

CA...     HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 11 PM PDT SATURDAY FOR CAZ080-081.

PACIFIC COASTAL WATERS...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS FROM 11 PM THIS EVENING
     TO 11 AM PDT FRIDAY FOR PZZ370-376.

CC

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Modoc County

When
July 30, 4:45 PM PST to July 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where
Modoc County forecast zone
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
Other Federal Agency
Coordinates
41.590, -120.725 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Frog Wildfire was started by lightning at around 1645 PST on 07/30/2015. As of 0330 PST on 08/01/2015, the fire covered 1000 acres and was 10 percent contained. 400,000 dollars had been spent on firefighting efforts. On the evening of July 30, 2015, 38 year-old Black Hills National Forest Engine Captain, David Dave Ruhl, while scouting on foot during initial attack of the Frog Fire on the Modoc National Forest, was entrapped and killed.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Wildfire, Modoc County2015-07-3038MaleOutside/Open AreasDirect

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 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 2015

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: 585274.