The Lake Fire burned 31,089 acres in the Angeles National Forest, northeast of the community of Azusa. In total, twelve structures were destroyed and another three were damaged.
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.
The episode as NWS LOX wrote it up.
The Lake Fire burned 31,089 acres in the Angeles National Forest, northeast of the community of Azusa. In total, twelve structures were destroyed and another three were damaged. Four firefighter injuries were reported.
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 Los Angeles, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 12, 1:41 PM PST, 57 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Los Angeles/Oxnard CA
241 PM PDT Wed Aug 12 2020
.SYNOPSIS...12/240 PM.
An extended period of hot weather is expected across much of
southwestern California Friday through early next week. Some
moisture streaming into the region from the south may bring a
slight chance of light showers Thursday morning, with a slight
chance of afternoon and evening thunderstorms for some interior
areas. Night and morning low clouds and fog will be minimal, and
confined to immediate coastal areas.
&&
.SHORT TERM (TDY-SAT)...12/235 PM.
High pressure continues to build into southwest California and the
warming is well on its way toward our extended heat wave.
Observations show as much as 10 degrees of warming from
yesterday's readings. Onshore gradients have weakened quite a bit
as well. In addition to warming temperatures, there's the increase
in moisture advecting northward into the area from TS Elida. Will
bring an increase in cloudiness starting later tonight and
especially tomorrow morning when most of the area will have quite
a bit of mid and high level cloud cover. This should disrupt any
formation of overnight coastal stratus south of Pt Conception, but
still expecting some development and intrusion into the central
coast. With a continuing shrinking marine layer depth due to the
increasing high pressure, would also expect some dense fog with
this stratus. This increase in moisture will also bring a very
slight chance of some light shower activity to much of the area
tomorrow morning, primarily around VTU and SBA counties and
on further offshore. Then as some sunshine peaks through in the
afternoon and we get some weak instability, there will be a slight
chance of some afternoon thunderstorms mainly over the mountains
and inland areas. Rainfall amounts will be very light with such a
dry boundary layer. Can't rule out the risk of dry lightning.
Thursday will also see additional warming across all areas with
the hottest areas tipping up to triple digits, including the LA
county valleys.
Friday will see quite a dramatic warmup with widespread 100 plus
readings quite certain over inland areas. Still some uncertainty
in the models, both deterministic and ensemble versions although
even the low end of the spectrum is enough for potential heat risk
concerns. Have upgraded the watch to a warning starting on Friday
for all but the coastal areas, which should have enough of a sea
breeze with just enough onshore gradient to keep it cooler. The
one exception will be the LA coast whose temperatures will be
influenced by a weak northerly pressure gradient. Went ahead and
put a heat advisory for this zone, but some conditions on the
eastern side of the zone up against the valleys will likely have a
higher heat risk. Have left the coastal zones of VTU, SBA, and
SLO counties out of the heat products at this time, although temps
away from the beaches will still be 3 to 6 degrees above normal.
The models that were indicating potential convection on Friday
have backed off a little. Not much of any instability forecast in
the NAM, which yesterday had quite a bit for Friday. Have trimmed
chances back quite a bit and just left some slight chances in a
small part of the VTU and SBA county mountains. Wouldn't be
surprise to see some cumulus building up most mountains, however,
with just enough mid level moisture around.
Saturday has been consistently shown as the hottest day of the
period, even though Friday will feel quite hot as well. There
appears to be better agreement among all the models on high temps,
which are forceast to reach the 105 to 109 range in the hottest
locations. Overnight lows will also be very warm including not
dropping below 80 in some foothill locations of LA county.
.LONG TERM (SUN-WED)...12/237 PM.
Models have had a tough time with Sunday temperatures, but the
overall trend will be for high temperatures to be a few degrees
cooler for coastal and valley areas, but jumping up a degree or
two further inland. Temperatures are still very warm away from the
coast and in the valleys where the warmest temperatures will still
be in the low 100s, especially the LA county valleys. Additional
cooling for Monday, but kept the excessive heat warning going
through Monday due to temperatures continuing to be unusually
warm. However, there should be enough cooling over the LA county
coast to end the heat advisory Sunday evening. That may need to be
extended if high temperatures are adjusted with later forecasts.
The one area that will continue to be very hot will be the
Antelope Valley, which will also continue to be very hot on
Tuesday. Thus their heat warning goes into Tuesday.
High pressure remains well entrenched in the southwest into
Tuesday and beyond into at least the rest of the week to keep
temperatures above normal across all areas. Will need to keep an
eye on the high pushing any monsoon moisture this direction from
the east. For now nothing is obvious but the position of the high
is such that it typically favors that scenario.
&&
.AVIATION...12/1801Z.
At 1739Z, the marine layer was around 600 ft deep around KLAX.
The top of the inversion was near 1500 feet with a temperature
around 26 degrees Celsius.
S of Point Conception...High confidence in Desert and Valley tafs.
Low confidence in coastal TAF sites due to mid level moisture
increasing tonight into Thursday and interfering in marine cloud
formation. Most coastal sites will probably not see marine clouds
Thursday morning. There is a 20 percent chance of a light rain
shower.
N of Point Conception...Moderate confidence with VLIFR/IFR Conds
due to shallow marine layer after 06z this evening. Higher
confidence for VFR Conds at KPRB.
KLAX...There is a 30 percent chance for IFR CIGs to develop
tonight into Thursday morning. There will be a slight chance for
showers after 12z Thu from the remnant moisture from Elida.
KBUR...VFR conditions are expected through the period. Slight
chance for morning showers after 12z Thu morning.
&&
.MARINE...12/118 PM.
No updates to the afternoon forecast.
Except for some locally gusty NW winds near Point Conception this
morning, winds and seas will likely remain below Small Craft
Advisory (SCA) levels through Friday across the waters. There is a
20-30 percent chance of SCA level gusts during the afternoon and
evening hours each day from Point Conception to San Nicolas
Island. There is a better chance of winds increasing from Point
Conception to San Nicolas Island Friday afternoon and Saturday
with a 50% chance confidence level for SCA level winds.
Patchy fog, locally dense with visibility under one mile, will
likely continue through mid-week across all the waters. Moisture
from the remnants of Tropical Storm Elida will move across the
coastal waters, bringing a slight chance of rain Thursday morning.
&&
.LOX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CA...Heat Advisory in effect from 11 AM Friday to 9 PM PDT Sunday
for zones 36-41. (See LAXNPWLOX).
Excessive Heat Warning in effect from 11 AM Friday to 9 PM
PDT Monday for zones 37-38-44>46-51>54-88-547. (See LAXNPWLOX).
Excessive Heat Warning in effect from 11 AM Friday to 9 PM
PDT Tuesday for zone 59. (See LAXNPWLOX).
PZ...NONE.
&&
.HAZARD POTENTIAL OUTLOOK (SAT-WED).
Triple digit high temperatures and very warm nights will bring
the potential for excessive heat over many areas through Monday
and, for far inland areas, into Tuesday. Otherwise, no
significant hazards expected.
&&
PUBLIC...Jackson
AVIATION...Sweet/Kaplan
MARINE...Sweet
SYNOPSIS...Jackson
weather.gov/losangeles1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Lake Fire burned 31,089 acres in the Angeles National Forest, northeast of the community of Azusa. In total, twelve structures were destroyed and another three were damaged. Four firefighter injuries were reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in California, August 2020
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: 915154.