Name: Wildfire in California, September 1 to 30, 2020
Start: 2020-09-01T00:00
End: 2020-09-30T23:59
Location: California

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 15
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 HNX wrote it up.

The lightning caused Castle fire was discovered on the morning of August 19, 2020. It was located 25 miles north of Kernville on the Sequoia National Forest and just a few miles east of the Giant Sequoia National Monument. It grew slowly at first, reaching 2000 acres on August 23rd. It grew rapidly to 15,000 acres by August 25th and to 35,674 acres by August 31st. The rapid growth resulted in evacuations of several small mountain communities and the closure of Highway 190 and several other mountain roads. On August 29, the Castle fire was combined with the smaller Shot Gun fire to become the SQF Complex. Containment remained at zero as of August 31st and the cost thus far was $5.6 Million. This fire continued into October.

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, 4:04 PM PST, 7 hours 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 4:04 PM PST, 7 hours 56 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service Hanford CA
504 PM PDT Mon Aug 31 2020

.UPDATE...Updated Air Quality Section.

&&

.SYNOPSIS...Dry weather is expected to continue over the central
California interior for the next several days with above average
temperatures. Excessive heat returns to the San Joaquin Valley,
lower foothills, and the Kern County desert by Labor Day weekend.

&&

.DISCUSSION...Some northerly flow aloft is occurring over Central
CA mainly due to an upper-level trough and associated cold front
over the Great Basin. This feature continues to move southward,
per latest satellite images. Meanwhile, the weak upper-level low
pressure system has moved southwestward to around 30N/124W or off
the coast of northern Baja California and will continue to move
further offshore. These systems are acting to keep dry weather in
place over much of California. A few locations, such as in the
Kern County mountains and desert, could experience brief gusty
winds later this afternoon into this evening. Current temperatures
are about a couple of degrees warmer, compared to 24 hours ago.
Highs will likely reach the century mark in the warmest SJ Valley
locations later this afternoon. We had a brief break in triple
digits yesterday, but highs were still around 2-4 degrees above
average. Triple digit heat will likely continue in much of the
Kern County desert areas today, as well as the next several days.

The northerly flow aloft is expected to push some more smoke from
Northern CA over much of our region through at least tonight. In
addition, the SQF Complex Fire in Sequoia National Forest (in the
Tulare County portion of the Southern Sierra Nevada east of
Porterville) will continue to produce smoke, and the easterly
near-surface winds will continue to bring some of this smoke into
the San Joaquin Valley, mainly southern portions during the
overnight and morning hours until at least Tuesday and possibly
longer. Otherwise, expect hazy skies throughout the forecast area
for at least the next several days or until the fires are
extinguished.

We are not anticipating much change in temperatures or sensible
weather during Tuesday and Wednesday, but more noticeable warming
is expected by Thursday. Even more warming will occur on Friday,
with the hottest weather expected over Labor Day weekend.
Temperatures are projected to peak on Sunday at this time,
although little change is likely into Labor Day. Highs above 105
degrees are likely in much of the Central Valley and around 110
degrees in the Kern County desert. Although the airmass will
remain quite dry, overnight lows may not be very cool and could
fail to fall below 80 degrees in some locations on Sunday morning
and again on Labor Day. Thus, it is likely we will need to issue
excessive heat watches/warnings. Longer-term guidance for periods
beyond Labor Day (such as the 8-14 day outlook from the Climate
Prediction Center), suggests the strong high pressure ridging and
above average temperatures will continue into next week, and there
does not appear to be an end to the triple digits for much of our
region anytime soon.

&&

.AVIATION...Areas of MVFR visibilities due to haze and smoke can
be expected in the San Joaquin Valley during the next 24 hours.
Locally poor visibilities due to wildfire smoke will linger mainly
over the Tulare County mountains. VFR conditions will prevail
elsewhere over the central California interior during the next 24
hours.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...On Tuesday September 1 2020... Unhealthy
for sensitive groups in Fresno... Kern... Kings... Madera...
Merced and Tulare Counties and Sequoia National Park and Forest.
Further information is available at Valleyair.org

An Air Quality Alert issued by local Air Pollution Control
Districts is in effect for portions of the central California
interior. For details, please see SFOAQAHNX.

&&

.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
an/or to provide feedback.

&&

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

&&

public...BSO
aviation....DCH

weather.gov/hanford

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Sequoia Kings

When: September 1, 12:00 AM PST to September 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Sequoia Kings forecast zone
Injuries: 15 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: Park/Forest Service

The lightning caused Castle fire was discovered on the morning of August 19, 2020. It was located 25 miles north of Kernville on the Sequoia National Forest and just a few miles east of the Giant Sequoia National Monument. It grew slowly at first, reaching 2000 acres on August 23rd. The it grew rapidly to 15,000 acres by August 25th and to 35,674 acres by August 31st due to gusty southwest winds and low humidity. The rapid growth resulted in evacuations of several small mountain communities and the closure of Highway 190 and several other mountain roads. On August 29, the Castle fire was combined with the smaller Shotgun fire to become the SQF Complex. The Shotgun fire was mainly sheltered at the bottom of a ravine and showed only small growth. The Castle fire continued to spread 4000 to 6000 acres on many days through September with the largest one day growth over 31,000 acres as above normal temperatures and low humidity persisted over the area along with very dry fuels. By the end of September, the fire was 151,436 acres and was 60 percent contained. Cost of containment was $74 million and there were 228 structures destroyed.

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 2020 Every state in 2020 This day in weather history Warnings in California, September 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: 921475.