California, 2016

Wildfire in California, September 1 to 30, 2016

September 1 to 30, 2016 · NWS HNX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

The Cedar fire began on 8/16/16 5 miles north of Alta Sierra in Kern County and spread northward into Tulare County. It was human caused.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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 Cedar fire began on 8/16/16 5 miles north of Alta Sierra in Kern County and spread northward into Tulare County. It was human caused. The fire burned 29,322 acres mostly during August 2016, before being fully contained on 9/30/16. The fire forced evacuations for several communities in Kern and Tulare counties for more than two weeks and Highway 155 was closed for several days due to the fire. Six cabins in the Spear Creek Summer Homes tract in the community of Posey in Tulare County were destroyed. The cost of containment was $58.4 million.

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 Aug 31, 4:29 PM PST, 7 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 4:29 PM PST, 7 hours 31 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service San Joaquin Valley - Hanford CA
529 PM PDT WED AUG 31 2016

.SYNOPSIS...
Dry weather and a slight cool down over the central California
interior for the next several days.

&&

.DISCUSSION...Updated air quality section...
&&

.PREV DISCUSSION...Issued at 1:17 PM PDT...

DISCUSSION...
Other than a few clouds over the Sierra Nevada due to the fetch of
mid/upper-level moisture from this morning, skies remain clear
across the region. Temperatures have trended down a little as the
mid/upper-level trough of low pressure moves inland into
California. The marine layer along the coast has also deepened
once again, so some marine air is expected to filter through the
passes along the west side of the San Joaquin Valley at times and
allow for some reinforced cooling in the San Joaquin Valley. In
other locales, the trough will provide some synoptic cooling,
although expect breezy conditions at times, including during the
afternoon and evening periods through Sunday. Locally gusty winds
are possible each day in the mountain and desert areas, especially
in Kern County, with a more noticeable uptick by Friday and into
Labor Day weekend. However, wind gusts will likely remain below
advisory criteria, except for a few locales near the passes and
canyons.

Model consistency provides good confidence in the continued
development of the mid/upper level trough along the west coast
through the end of the week. Expect temperatures to continue to
run near to slightly below average for the next couple of days in
a southwest to west flow on the front side of this developing
trough. As the deepening trough moves inland by Friday, we will
see a fairly decent cooling trend, with temperatures dropping to
around 4-8 degrees below average during the Labor Day weekend.

After the holiday period, models begin to diverge a bit in the
details but generally weaken and lift out the trough through the
middle of next week. This will bring an upward trend in
temperatures, with more noticeable warming by Tuesday and next
Wednesday, but without a significant building ridge of high
pressure, highs are expected to only return to around average or
slightly above.

A dry weather pattern will continue, and precipitation is not
expected throughout the period, as there is no associated moisture
accompanying the passing troughs/impulses.

&&

.AVIATION...
VFR conditions will prevail over the central CA interior during the
next 24 hours.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
On Thursday September 1 2016... Unhealthy for sensitive groups in
Sequoia National Park and Forest.
Further information is available at Valleyair.org

&&

.CERTAINTY...

The level of certainty for days 1 and 2 is high.
The level of certainty for days 3 through 7 is medium.

Certainty levels include low...medium...and high. Please visit
www.weather.gov/hnx/certainty.php for additional information
an/or to provide feedback.

&&

.HNX Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
NONE.
&&

avn/fw...BSO
prev discussion...BSO
synopsis...WP

weather.gov/hanford

Event by event

2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Kern Cty Mtns

When
September 1, 12:00 AM PST to September 30, 7:00 AM PST
Where
Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by
Park/Forest Service

Wildfire, Tulare Cty Mtns

When
September 1, 12:00 AM PST to September 30, 7:00 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 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in California, September 2016

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: 656696, 656697.