California, 2020

Wildfire in California, November 1 to 30, 2020

November 1 to 30, 2020 · NWS HNX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

The Creek fire started at 633 pm PDT on September 4th (Labor Day Weekend) in the vicinity of Big Creek, California near the town of Shaver Lake. The fire was in an area of very heavy tree mortality in the Sierra National Forest.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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 Creek fire started at 633 pm PDT on September 4th (Labor Day Weekend) in the vicinity of Big Creek, California near the town of Shaver Lake. The fire was in an area of very heavy tree mortality in the Sierra National Forest. The fire had explosive grown on September 5th and 6th under excessive heat and low humidity, but not much wind. The fire became plume dominated on the 5th and column collapses were noted by AlertFire Cameras late on the 5th within the extremely unstable environment. Damaging fire whirls occurred just north of Mammoth Pool with ground survey estimated winds at 115-125 mph, and near Huntington Lake with patterns indicating winds of 90-107 mph. By the evening of September 6th, the fire fire had grown to 73,278 acres. Extensive smoke allowed the fire to slow some by Monday and Tuesday September 7th-8th, however the fore continued to grow, reaching nearly 153,000 acres by September 9th. Around this time, the complexity of the incident necessitated management of the fire to be split into a north zone and a south zone with 2 overhead teams assigned. The fire closed Highway 168 and may local roads and there were evacuations of as many as 45,000 people. Hundreds of people were rescued by California National Guard helicopters from the Mammoth Pool area and also from the China Peak ski resort. Hot ands dry conditions under strong high pressure continued throughout the remainder of September with extensive smoke often hampering air operations. By the end of September the fire had burned 307,051 acres and had destroyed 853 structures and damaged 64 others. Cost of containment was $106 Million. The fire continued to grow by an average of 2000 acres a day throughout October under warm than normal conditions and low humidities and a couple of offshore wind events. The fire reached 379,571 acres by the end of November.

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 Oct 31, 2:49 PM PST, 9 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 31, 2:49 PM PST, 9 hours 11 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion...Updated
National Weather Service Hanford CA
349 PM PDT Sat Oct 31 2020

Updated Air Quality Issues section

.SYNOPSIS...
Temperatures will continue to remain above average through Thursday.
A pattern change by the end of next week will bring much cooler
temperatures to the region, but uncertainty still remains for the
chance of precipitation.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
A Rex Blocking pattern will remain in control across the region
into Monday. This will keep our area under a dry, warm offshore
flow. An upper level low (southern half of this blocking pattern)
will bring an increase in mid to upper level cloud cover to the
region on Sunday and early Monday. However, under this warm
airmass temperatures will still remain up to 10 degrees above
average for early November.

The upper level ridge shifts east on Tuesday, with a slightly
cooler, weak zonal flow. High pressure then builds back into the
region late Tuesday through Thursday. Temperatures will still remain
well above average during this period, with dry conditions
prevailing across the region.

A pattern change is in store by next Friday and Saturday. There
is still has a fair amount of uncertainty in the exact strength
and timing of the upper level trough and between the EURO and GFS.
The morning run of the GFS has started to try and dig the upper
level trough much deeper and further to the west, trending toward
the EURO solution. Despite this trend in the GFS (and only one
model run) there is still a fair amount of uncertainty into the
chances of precipitation. What is more certain is that
temperatures will significantly decrease by the end of next week
as ensembles have a deep trough across the Western U.S.

&&

.AVIATION...
Areas of MVFR visibilities due to smoke and haze will occur in the
San Joaquin Valley and Sierra foothills for at least the next 24
hours. Areas of IFR visibilities due to smoke and haze will continue
in the Sierra Nevada. Elsewhere, VFR conditions will prevail across
the central CA interior for the next 24 hours.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
Please see SFOAQAHNX for an Air Quality Alert.

On Sunday, November 1st, 2020, unhealthy for sensitive groups in
Fresno, Kings, and Madera Counties. Fireplace/wood stove burning
status is: no burning unless registered in Kern, Merced, and Tulare
Counties. No burning for all in Fresno, Kings, and Madera Counties.
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.html for additional information and/or
to provide feedback.

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.

&&

public...CMC
aviation....CMC

weather.gov/hanford

Event by event

3 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Central Sierra Foothills

When
November 1, 12:00 AM PST to November 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where
Central Sierra Foothills forecast zone
Reported by
Park/Forest Service

The Creek Fire continued to show moderate fire behavior and slow growth through the first week of November. On November 7th and 8th a winter storm brought 9 to 13 inches of snow above the 7000 foot level. This put a damper on the fire but did not totally put it out. It was 85 percent contained as of November 20th. The only remaining heat detected was from isolated large logs which continue to smolder as they burn into the wet snow. Surrounded by snow and granite, managers were confident that the fire will not progress further under winter conditions. Due to not being able to put a containment line all the way around the fire, it will not be fully contained until there is a season ending event, likely in December. Final acreage was 379,895 acres. Total cost of containment was $193.5 million.

Wildfire, Central Sierra

When
November 1, 12:00 AM PST to November 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where
Central Sierra forecast zone
Reported by
Park/Forest Service

The Creek Fire continued to show moderate fire behavior and slow growth through the first week of November. On November 7th and 8th a winter storm brought 9 to 13 inches of snow above the 7000 foot level. This put a damper on the fire but did not totally put it out. It was 85 percent contained as of November 20th. The only remaining heat detected was from isolated large logs which continue to smolder as they burn into the wet snow. Surrounded by snow and granite, managers were confident that the fire will not progress further under winter conditions. Due to not being able to put a containment line all the way around the fire, it will not be fully contained until there is a season ending event, likely in December. Final acreage was 379,895 acres. Total cost of containment was $193.5 million.

Wildfire, North Kings River

When
November 1, 12:00 AM PST to November 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where
North Kings River forecast zone
Reported by
Park/Forest Service

The Creek Fire continued to show moderate fire behavior and slow growth through the first week of November. On November 7th and 8th a winter storm brought 9 to 13 inches of snow above the 7000 foot level. This put a damper on the fire but did not totally put it out. It was 85 percent contained as of November 20th. The only remaining heat detected was from isolated large logs which continue to smolder as they burn into the wet snow. Surrounded by snow and granite, managers were confident that the fire will not progress further under winter conditions. Due to not being able to put a containment line all the way around the fire, it will not be fully contained until there is a season ending event, likely in December. Final acreage was 379,895 acres. Total cost of containment was $193.5 million.

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 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in California, November 2020

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: 924304, 924305, 924306.