The Hills Fire started on 8/15/2020, in the foothills about 9 miles south of Coalinga, CA. It grew to 2,121 acres before being contained on 8/25/2020.
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 HNX wrote it up.
The Hills Fire started on 8/15/2020, in the foothills about 9 miles south of Coalinga, CA. It grew to 2,121 acres before being contained on 8/25/2020. The cause was under investigation. The cost of containment was $3.9 million. No structures were destroyed or damages. Tragically, a helicopter pilot was killed on August 18 when his helicopter crashed while making water drops over the fire.
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 15, 12:51 PM PST, 35 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Hanford CA 151 PM PDT Sat Aug 15 2020 .SYNOPSIS... Excessive Heat will continue over much of the district for the next several days. Isolated showers and thunderstorms can be expected this weekend, primarily over the higher elevations. Otherwise, a few thunderstorms will pop up near the Sierra crest each afternoon through Wednesday. && .DISCUSSION...Oppressive heat, humidity, and thunderstorms are all a part of the weather picture over much of the central California today. Tropical moisture surged northward into the western third of the CWA earlier this morning equipped with showers and isolated thunderstorms. The richest band of moisture, as well as the heaviest thunderstorms, trained northward through Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County. As the activity crossed over the coastal ranges, little if any rain fell from the thunderstorms, but they added more humidity to the atmosphere and slowed temperature rises a bit. The focus of convection will continue to be over the higher elevations of our CWA, the west side and south end of the San Joaquin Valley where isolated thunderstorms will remain a threat into early this evening. Any of these thunderstorms that are dry can ignite new fires over the mountains until convection dies around sunset. Otherwise, temperatures will remain much warmer than normal again tonight. The higher humidity will add to the discomfort. In the broader picture, a strong upper level ridge of high pressure will dominate our weather pattern for the next several days. It's currently centered over Arizona and New Mexico. This monster ridge will gradually build northward and westward and re-center itself over the Great Basin by Monday where it will remain anchored through at least the middle of next week. Until this ridge retrogrades into the Golden State, the window will remain open for more northerly influxes of tropical moisture. Indeed, the models bring another slug of mid level moisture into the CWA by Sunday morning. If so, we could see a repeat of convection in roughly the same areas as we did this morning. We've made adjustments to the forecast to add a slight chance of thunderstorms to the south end and west side of the San Joaquin Valley from late tonight through midday Sunday. The thunderstorm focus Sunday will probably again shift to the mountains during the afternoon and early evening hours. Much of this mid level moisture and atmospheric instability should diminish early in the week as the high pressure ridge builds more strongly into central California. If so, the thunderstorm threat will also decrease each day, but probably not end completely over the highest elevations of the Sierra where a few thunderstorms could pop up each afternoon through midweek. The big weather story during the next several days will be the extreme heat. Thermometer readings will top 110 degrees in some locations of the San Joaquin Valley and peak as high as 115 degrees in a few desert locales. Tuesday looks to be the hottest day, but honestly, each and every day will top 105 degrees in a large majority of these regions through Thursday. Perhaps a more significant health impact of this heat wave will be its longevity. This will be, by far, the longest stretch of triple digit in the valley, lower foothills and the desert yet this Summer. The persistence of this heat wave could take a stressful, life threatening toll on livestock, the elderly and heat sensitive individuals. The humidity will exacerbate the discomfort. Based on historical weather archives, this could end up being the worst heat wave to grip California since July, 2006. Records for maximum temperatures and high minimum temperatures will be challenged this week at several climate stations in the San Joaquin Valley. In the larger urban areas such as Fresno and Bakersfield, in addition to some desert communities, overnight lows will be at or above 80 degrees on consecutive nights this week. We advise people to stay indoors and in air conditioned buildings and not venture outdoors during the hottest part of each day. If you must be outdoors, limit your exposure, stay out of the sun, hydrate, and wear a protective hat, sunscreen, and light colored, loose-fitting clothing. Rivers are still running cold and swift and are potentially dangerous places to seek cooling relief from the heat, no matter how great of a swimmer you are. Be sensible, and don't end up as a drowning fatality or the victim of a water rescue! Finally, there is some hope that our heat wave will ease up by the end of next week. The models forecast this high pressure ridge to weaken and shift back over Arizona on days 6 and 7. In doing so, the door to the tropics could swing wide open again. Indeed, both the ECM and GFS forecast another northward influx of tropical moisture into central California late Friday night into next Saturday. If so, parts of our CWA will see a renewed thunderstorm threat during this period. Don't get your hopes up too high if you're looking for a return to seasonable temperatures by then, however. We're still expecting high temperatures to be at or above the century mark in much of the San Joaquin Valley, lower foothills and the Kern county desert next Saturday. && .AVIATION... Isolated thunderstorms can be expected over mainly the higher elevations through 03z Sunday and again after 12z Sunday. VFR conditions will prevail elsewhere over the central California interior during the next 24 hours. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES... On Saturday August 15 2020... Unhealthy for sensitive groups in Fresno... Kern... Kings... Madera and Tulare Counties and Sequoia National Park and Forest. Further information is available at Valleyair.org && .CERTAINTY... The level of certainty for days 1 and 2 is medium. The level of certainty for days 3 through 7 is high. Certainty levels include low...medium...and high. Please visit www.weather.gov/hnx/certainty.html for additional information an/or to provide feedback. && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Excessive Heat Warning until 9 PM PDT Wednesday for CAZ179>191- 198-199. && synopsis...Durfee public/fw...Durfee aviation/IDSS/PIO....JEB weather.gov/hanford
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Hills fire began 8/25/2020 and burned 2,121 acres before begin contained on 8/25/2020. The fire was in the foothills about 9 miles south of Coalinga, CA. Tragically, a helicopter pilot was killed on 8/18/2020 when his helicopter crashed while preforming water drops over the fire.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wildfire, West Side Hills | 2020-08-18 | 52 | Male | Other | Direct |
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: 917682.