Three hikers went missing on June 18th in the afternoon at Rattlesnake Falls near Soda Springs in Placer County. The hikers entered the water and did not surface.
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 STO wrote it up.
Three hikers went missing on June 18th in the afternoon at Rattlesnake Falls near Soda Springs in Placer County. The hikers entered the water and did not surface. The terrain was extremely remote and difficult to access, making rescue efforts especially challenging.
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 18, 12:06 PM PST, 2 hours 54 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Sacramento CA
106 PM PDT Wed Jun 18 2025
For additional details on weather and expected impacts over the
next 7 days, please visit weather.gov/sto/briefing.
.DISCUSSION...
.SYNOPSIS...
Hottest day of the week today with widespread Moderate HeatRisk
over the Valley and adjacent foothills. Cooling trend to follow
with stronger onshore flow Thursday-Friday. Elevated fire weather
concerns today into the weekend from low humidity and gusty winds
with moderate fire weather conditions on Saturday.
&&
.KEY MESSAGES...
* Today:
- Hottest day of the week with triple digit highs across the
Valley and widespread Moderate HeatRisk for the Valley and
adjacent foothills.
-Combination of hot weather with dry conditions may bring a brief
period of locally elevated fire weather conditions, mainly
across the northern Sacramento and northern San Joaquin Valley.
-Please continue to practice heat and fire safety such as ,
avoiding activities during the heat of the day, properly
extinguishing any campfires, and not driving over dry grass.
*Thursday-This Weekend:
-Gradual cooling trend expected with stronger onshore flow
Thursday-Friday. Strongest winds expected through the Delta and
over the Sierra. South to west forecasted shifting to north to
west winds over the weekend.
-Elevated fire weather conditions expected across the Sacramento
Valley late this week due a combination of low humidity and
locally breezy winds with Friday into Sunday, particularly
across the northern Sacramento and northern San Joaquin Valleys.
-Min RH values in the teens to low 20s Friday - Sunday across
the northern Sacramento Valley, Valley Foothills, and Northern
San Joaquin areas
-Probability of wind gusts > 30 mph:
*60-95%: Friday across the Northern/Central Sacramento Valley
and Delta
*50-85%: Saturday across the western Sacramento Valley, Delta,
and southwest Northern San Joaquin Valley.
-Isolated showers over northern Shasta County and Southern
Cascades Friday into Saturday morning but little to no impacts
expected.
.Changes from previous forecast...
-Winds continue to trend stronger as the anomalously low moves
across our area Friday into the weekend
&&
.AVIATION...
VFR conditions continue at TAF sites over the next 24 hours.
Periodic gusts around 15-20 kts in the vicinity of the Delta and N
San Joaquin areas until 06z Thu with lingering gusts through the
Delta until around 12z Thu. Gusty southwest to west wind gusts
15-30 kts develop after 18z Thu; strongest through the Delta and
vicinity and over the mountains.
&&
.STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.
&&1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Placer County Sheriff reported the missing hikers entered the water on June 18th and did not surface. Their bodies were recovered on June 22nd. Air temperatures at the time were in the mid 70s to 80s at the time of the report with water temperatures in the 40s to 50s.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold/Wind Chill, West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada | 2025-06-18 | 44 | Male | In Water | Direct |
| Cold/Wind Chill, West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada | 2025-06-18 | 50 | Male | In Water | Direct |
| Cold/Wind Chill, West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada | 2025-06-18 | 59 | Male | In Water | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in California, June 2025
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: 1265281.