Name: Wildfire in California, July 1 to 11, 2022
Start: 2022-07-01T00:00
End: 2022-07-11T14:22
Location: California

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
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.

The Rices Fire began when weather conditions were dry with relative humidity values around 13% and temperatures in the lower 90s. Southwest winds generally 5 to 8 mph with gusts up to 15 mph were observed with nearby ridge top gusts up to 20 mph. The fire experienced a moderate rate of spread.

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 Jun 30, 1:31 PM PST, 10 hours 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 30, 1:31 PM PST, 10 hours 29 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Sacramento CA
231 PM PDT Thu Jun 30 2022

.Synopsis...
Decreasing high temperatures expected through Sunday, with below
normal temperatures for the holiday weekend. Slight warm up next
week. Locally breezy onshore winds in the afternoons and evenings
into next week.

&&

.Discussion...
We are seeing quiet conditions this afternoon under clear skies.
Our cooling trend continues as a trough digs over the Pacific.
Highs today will be anywhere from 1 to 7 degrees cooler than
yesterday. We should see a good Delta Breeze once again tonight
and the marine layer has depended over the Pacific. The Fort Ord
profiler currently has the marine layer hovering around 2000 feet.
Given the strong flow through the Delta tonight if we see the
marine layer deepen to over 2000 feet we could see some stratus
make it into the Valley tomorrow morning for a time. Any stratus
that does reach the Valley will clear quickly during the morning.

The trough will continue to dig and will begin to push east over
NorCal over the weekend. This will continue to bring cooling
temperatures with them about 5-15 below average by the weekend.
This trough may bring a few showers to the Shasta County mountains
later Saturday and Sunday. Models do show some upper level
instability building in over the Coastal Range Saturday evening
and again Sunday. Sounding profiles don't look great in our area
and the thunderstorm threat looks very minimal for us with the
better chances staying north. PWATs do push up to around 0.75" but
forcing will be weak with this trough and that will limit the QPF
and heavy rain chances.

This trough will also continue onshore flow and the winds could
become locally breezy during the afternoons and evenings. A
strong Delta Breeze will continue into the weekend and the EFI
(Extreme Forecast Index) is highlighting the Delta Saturday and
Sunday as the trough begins to come inland. Gusts up to 35 mph
will be possible and the Delta Breeze will have no problem making
it to Sacramento and the northern San Joaquin. This strong Delta
Breeze will also bring cooler overnight lows to the Delta
influenced areas and mornings will be on the chilly side for this
time of year.

Long wave troughing is going to remain over the west coast for the
start of next week as a ridge builds to the east. This will bring
very pleasant weather for Independence Day and will be the start
to a gradual warming trend.

-CJM

&&

.EXTENDED DISCUSSION (Monday THROUGH Thursday)...
Long wave troughing over the west will slowly push west back over
the Pacific for the extended period as strong ridging builds over
the Rockies. This will bring a gradual warming trend to NorCal
with highs returning to seasonal averages by the late part of the
week. Onshore flow will continue and could be locally breezy in
the afternoon and evenings especially in the Delta.

-CJM

&&

.AVIATION...
VFR conditions over the next 24 hours. There is potential for low
clouds near the Delta 09-17 UTC Friday with short lived MVFR
conditions possible into the Sacramento metro 13-16 UTC. Wind
gusts generally at/below 15 kt with locally stronger gusts of 25
to 35 kt in the Delta.

&&

.STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.

&&

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Motherlode/Camptonville to Groveland

When: July 1, 12:00 AM PST to July 11, 2:22 PM PST
Where: Motherlode/Camptonville to Groveland forecast zone
Reported by: Park/Forest Service

The Rices Fire began on June 28, 2022, near Rices Crossing Road and Cranston Road, south of Dobbins in Nevada County. The fire burned 904 acres and caused evacuations and power outages through the area, with 1 structure destroyed. No injuries reported. The fire was not fully contained until 2:22 pm, July 11, 2022.

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 2022 Every state in 2022 This day in weather history Warnings in California, July 2022

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: 1038908.