California, 2019

Heat in California, August 15 to 17, 2019

August 15 to 17, 2019 · NWS STO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

High pressure brought extensive heat to the region from August 14 to August 16.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
1
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.

High pressure brought extensive heat to the region from August 14 to August 16.

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 15, 2:55 AM PST, 11 hours 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 15, 2:55 AM PST, 11 hours 14 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Sacramento CA
355 AM PDT Thu Aug 15 2019

.SYNOPSIS...
Hot temperatures next couple of days with an excessive heat
warning today and Friday valley and foothill locations. Cooler
over the weekend with below normal temperatures by Sunday.
Warming slowly through next week to a little above normal. Mainly
fair skies through the extended period with no precipitation
expected interior Northern California.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
High pressure over the west coast will bring fair skies and very
warm to hot temperatures today. Marine layer is squashed down to
below 500 feet and delta breeze is at a minimum so no coastal
stratus is expected within the CWA today. Overall airmass is
forecast to be just a bit warmer than on Wednesday so today's
highs should come in just a bit warmer most areas. This will put
daytime highs at the highest so far this year at some locations
and a excessive heat warning for the lower elevations and
foothills will continue. A weak upper trough will drop into the
Pacific Northwest on Friday bringing a slight cooling over Norcal
but temperatures will remain well above normal. A slightly
stronger upper trough is forecast to develop along or just off the
west coast over the weekend. Main effect will be to bring down
daytime temperatures to just a little above normal on Saturday to
actually a few degrees below normal on Sunday. No precipitation or
even significant cloud cover is expected with this system but
marine layer will likely deepen and coastal stratus may redevelop
enough that combined with an increased delta flow may make it
into the delta and valley during the morning hours.

&&

.EXTENDED DISCUSSION (Monday THROUGH Thursday)...

Ensemble solutions continue to indicate upper ridging over the
Desert Southwest gradually expanding westward through the period.
Therefore, at or above normal temperatures are anticipated early
next week into mid-week. Temperatures will be right around
average on Monday, then trend above seasonal normals the rest of
the forecast period. Most Valley locations should see temperatures
generally in the mid to upper 90s, while highs around 100 are
expected over the northern Sacramento Valley.

&&

.AVIATION...

VFR conditions next 24 hours. Winds will be generally light,
under 10 knots. Local gusts 15-20 knots possible in the Delta
vicinity.
&&

.STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Excessive Heat Warning until 10 PM PDT Friday for Carquinez
Strait and Delta-Central Sacramento Valley-Clear Lake/Southern
Lake County-Motherlode-Northeast Foothills/Sacramento Valley-
Northern Sacramento Valley-Northern San Joaquin Valley-Southern
Sacramento Valley.

&&

Event by event

1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Northern Sacramento Valley

When
August 15, 2:09 PM PST to August 17, 5:43 PM PST
Where
Northern Sacramento Valley forecast zone
Injuries
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
Fire Department/Rescue

On August 15th a wildfire was reported in the community of Millville in Shasta County. This fire burned a 156 acres over a period of two days during a brief heatwave over northern California. On Calfire's web page for the Cottage Fire, it notes that one fire fighter was injured due to heat related illness. An Excessive Heat Warning was in place from 1100 August 14 to 2100 August 16.

What these are

Heat
Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in California, August 2019

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: 854508.