Weather in the Central California Interior in 2004
The following is account of significant weather by month that I have observed or worked through in 2004.
January 2004 - The year began with a bang as the area was slammed by two winter storms in two days. The New Year's Day storm (well it wasn't as bad as the 1997 and 2002 storms), brought a third of an inch to an inch of rain the the valley and pounded the sierras with 18 to 36 inches of snow being common above 6000 feet. A second storm brought a colder airmass to the area and some thunderstorms to the valley on the 2nd. The Sierras picked up an additional 6 to 12 inches and the Tehachapi's picked up a few inches of fresh powder as well on the morning of the 3rd as snow levels lowered to around 3000 feet. Amazingly I was off through the period because of the extra person rule on national holidays which preceded a scheduled three day break for me. A blizzard nailed the Pacific Northwest on the 6th, but all I could do was watch and handle people who were concerned about relatives living near Seattle and Portland. The storm only brought some light precipitation to Central California. I battled neighbors over the evolution of the next storm (sure looked like a dry storm to me), and once again prevailed as a spring tried to arrive on the 8th then on the 9th strong southeast winds developed ahead of the dry cold front in the south valley and the Tehachapi Mountains which caused some accidents on I-5. This led me to smack out to a high wind warning. Strong high pressure then prevailed for several days which meant fog and low clouds in the valley for several days while the mountains were sunny. The sun finally came back to the valley on the 21st after ten straight days of fog and low clouds (although dense fog was not much of a problem). Two promising storms fell apart before hitting us in mid January, but a storm to the north of the area bushed by on the 26th and 27th and brought some light rain. I drove through the storm to Reno for a workshop on the 26th and witnessed a fatal accident on I-80 near Truckee as as 4 wheel drive SUV flipped over and fell 1000 feet. I had to buy chains for one of the office cars (but I was paid back for my good deeds). Another storm crossed northern California on the 28th, but only produced light precipitation. On the 30th I drove home and this was interesting. Reno was sunny that morning. Once I crossed the state line I was driving through a near blizzard. I chained up and and struggled for 30 miles before the snow turned to rain which lasted until I was south of Madera then it was bone dry the rest of the way home. The month was a little drier than usual with close to normal temperatures.
February 2004 - The ground hog came up on the 2nd and beat a winter storm to keep the season going. The storm brought 1 to 2 feet of snow above 6000 feet and a healthy third to two thirds of an inch of rain to much of the valley from the afternoon of the 2nd to the morning of the 3rd. A dry and foggy pattern then prevailed when a ridge built offshore, but dense fog was localized. I did get to work the agricultural expo booth on a sunny day in Tulare on the 10th which allowed for many users to finally meet me. A "major storm" forecasted by neighbors on the 13th did nothing in the area except bring some middle and high clouds. A strong low did bring some precipitation to the area on the 18th with a quarter of an inch to an inch across much the valley and another 1 to 2 feet of powder above 6000 feet in the Sierras and strong winds to the Tehachapi mountains and Kern deserts. I was an extra that day and was used to watch the radar for the thunderstorms which never developed. The SPC actually wanted to go with a severe thunderstorm watch, but my co-workers talked them out of making fools of themselves and crying wolf. On the 20th a moist tropical band reached the area. It brought some light rain and mountain snows for two days before a bigger storm hit on the 22nd while I was on a swing shift. CHP insisted on a flash flood warning being put out for the Lamont area for some local ponding. All they got was a statement since no lives were close to being in danger. The mountains picked up some more snow (6 to 12 inches in general) and the valley generally picked up a quarter to a half of an inch of rainfall. A blizzard hit the mountains on the 25th and 26th and brought 2 to 3 feet of snow the the southern Sierras, strong winds to the Tehachapis and around half an inch of rain to much of the valley. I finally got to work a good storm this winter, but was on midnights. Anticipated thunderstorms in a high shear environment on the afternoon of the 26th were over hyped. Mainly showers with some heavy rain. The month then ended with quieter but cool conditions. Precipitation was above normal for the month. Temperatures were a little cooler than usual.
March 2004 - The cool and wet weather of February continued into early March as a cold Pacific storm hit the area on the 1st of the month. The storm brought around half an inch to an inch of rain to the central valley, but barely touched the south valley. The mountains north of Kings Canyon picked up some snow where 6 to 10 inches was common above 6000 feet. High pressure build in behind this storm on the 3rd and was in full force for several days. At first the large west coast ridge allowed for patchy late season dense fog to form in the valley each morning. The fog didn't usually last past 900 am, but I had an interesting morning commute on the 9th. The ridge also brought near record heat to the area each day from the 8th to the 23rd, with highs often reaching the 80s. The "end of winter" heat wave and dry spell ended on the 25th and 26th with a long anticipated Pacific low moved through. This system was much stronger than anticipated though and brought 0.20 to 0.40 inches of rain to much of the valley and foothills, but hit the mountains above 7000 feet with some much needed snows, but accumulations were a foot or less. Skies cleared out by the time my midnight shift ended on the 26th, but some upslope rain showers continued across the Kern Mountains through the 27th. The heat wave returned for two days and sent temperatures into the 90s across parts of the valley on the 29th. A dry cold front brought temperatures down to near normal to end the month which ended up as dryer then normal and for most the valley, the warmest March of all time.
April 2004 - The month began with an April fools joke over the mountains with upslope rain and snow in the followed by some afternoon thunderstorms. The valley remained mostly clear. An upper cutoff low dropped south across Nevada that day and the models were totally clueless on it. Backlash moisture provided the foothills, mountains and Kern Deserts with some rains, but the valley was left dry. The low then fooled the models later on by moving east and out of the picture earlier than anticipated which led to me overhauling the Palm Sunday weekend forecast which is custom in Southern Region which usually gets severe thunderstorms, but not so on the west coast. At least the a ridge built offshore and brought warming to the valley while the radar went down and out on Palm Sunday. Other than some light convective thunderstorms near the Sierra crest on the 8th through the 10th, dry weather prevailed with continued above normal temperatures. A dry cold front came through on the morning of the 13th, bringing a cool spell to the area for about a week. I took some time off after that and the first significant storm of the month brought some showers and thunderstorms on the 17th. The cell that hit Hanford knocked out power for 90 minutes, but rainfall was light and I sure didn't see any hail. Most locations only picked up a few hundredths of an inch from this system. When I returned I only watched rains to the north on the 19th and 20th as our area remained clear. Strong winds blasted through eastern Kern County on the 21st as a low dropped through Nevada. After a brief cool shot on the 22nd, temperatures skyrocketed with highs reaching the 90s across the valley by the 25th. The heat wave lasted four days with some locations breaking records on the 26th and 27th as highs neared the century mark. A dry cold front blasted through on the 28th and brought a brief shot of stronger winds which prompted a wind advisory for the Kern Mountains and Deserts. This cooled temperatures down to near normal as the month ended. April was warmer than usual (a break from the recent trend) and also much dryer than usual.
May 2004 - The month began with a return to the April heat wave. Several record highs fell on the 3rd and 4th. A dry cold front then blasted through the area to bring temperatures closer to normal for the next two weeks then for the remainder of the month temperatures were slightly below normal. A series of trough passages brought severe thunderstorms with large hail the northern part of the state between the 17th and the 21st. While I watched as neighboring offices warned I could look outside at blue skies and enjoy pleasantly cool temperatures. Some showers did break out near Yosemite on the afternoon of the 21st. Some lift aloft from an offshore low brought some showers and isolated thunderstorms to the mountains on the 25th, but there was little excitement as I covered it with two sets of NOWs. The storm of the month was on the morning of the 28th. This system was much stronger than anticipated and while it did bring some strong winds to the Kern Mountains and Deserts it also brought some light rain showers to the northern zones. Yosemite Park did pick up close to an inch of rain though. I was the lucky forecaster who got to time the event with NOWs (by delegation) as it was underway. Skies quickly cleared out that afternoon. The month itself would average a bit warmer and dryer than normal.
June 2004 - The first six days of the month were more like summer with highs approaching the century mark in the valley. This was followed by a cool spell as valley temperatures topped out mostly in the 70s on the 8th and 9th following a strong cold frontal passage that brought winds to advisory levels in the Kern Mountains and Deserts. The last three weeks of the month were seasonally hot and dry as the valley didn't pick up any rain for the fourth straight June. Some thunderstorms did pop up in the mountains on a few afternoons which is usual in June. A severe thunderstorm warning and a flash flood warning were issued on the afternoon of the 16th which were the first short fused warnings issued by my co-workers in over nine months. I almost warned on mountain thunderstorms on the 29th and 30th, but these were pulsating and I held off on them. The month averaged with near normal temperatures.
July 2004 - I took a vacation for half of the month so I missed out on the first tornado in the area in over 18 months. It took place on the afternoon of the 7th near the Sierra Crest in Sequoia Park which made it unusual and difficult to detect. It wasn't known about (except for the hiker who witnessed it) until several days later. The 6th and 17th were the most active convective afternoons in the Sierras with a flood advisory needed for the Blackrock Mountain area on the 17th. The valley remained dry as July usually is. Temperatures averaged a little above normal because of a heat wave between the 21st and 28th.
August 2004 - The month began with a cool and dry airmass over the area. It warmed up to triple digit highs across the valley and foothills by the 8th and the ensuing heat wave lasted through the 13th. The big highlight during the first half of the month was the arrival of the new extended DGEX model which quickly became commonly used by forecasters nationwide. On the 12th a bad fire "called the Deep fire" broke out near Springville. This quickly became the worst fire in the area in two years. On the 13th monsoonal moisture finally came to Southern California. Thunderstorms broke out that afternoon and led to a 4 office, 18 short fused warning event. An outflow boundary spawned a violent thunderstorm over Edwards Air Force Base which my co-workers warned on twice. The warning did verify for strong winds. Another 4 office, 18 short fused warning event followed the next day. One cell produced flash flooding in the Randsburg area. I watched a 76 VIL cell (the worst that I have ever seen on radar) develop in the Apple Valley which spawned a large tornado and led to several warnings from my co-workers in San Diego. My role during these events was to make cross sections and on both days, I was relieved by the time the nasty storms reached our area. Of the 36 warnings issued on the two days, my office shot out three. On the 15th, convective activity was limited to the crest and east. On the 16th an upper low crossed the area and pushed all of the tropical moisture well to the east of the area. The remainder of the month was dry with temperatures close to normal. I had to cover as the lead forecaster (much more responsibility) several times during the period, and much of my time was spent preparing for November by creating new procedures for high resolution ETA and DGEX, and also moving our office homepage over to a new server. Temperatures averaged close to normal for the month and precipitation was close to normal as well (which means dry in the San Joaquin Valley).
September 2004 - The month began on the hot side, but after a brief cool down the triple digit heat returned for the 6th through the 10th. Much of my shift were spent on a project of hot-linking all of our text products on a backup system after the office AWIPS went down for several hours on the 9th. A strong trough came in on the 13th and it brought cooler and cleaner air into the area although an arsonist set a major fire near Mariposa that day and it led to the city being evacuated. The arsonist ended up being caught for setting several fires this year. A cold trough brought much cooler than normal temperatures to the areas for the 18th through 21st. This system even brought some light rain (a few hundredths) to the northern part of the area on the 19th, but not really enough to do much crop damage. Temperatures shot up again from the 22nd through the 27th before another trough brought in cooling for the end of the month which ended up drier than normal with near normal temperatures.
October 2004 - I began the month launching a new office homepage on a new server which means I will spend much of my fair weather time fixing bugs until Santa comes to town. Orographic lift brought some thunderstorms to the area on the 1st and 2nd although the valley did not measure anywhere. In fact, I nearly warned on a strong thunderstorm over Yosemite Park on the afternoon of the 2nd. More thunderstorms fired up in the mountains on the 4th, and I issued NOWs on those. The next 12 days were mainly clear and dry with near normal temperatures. The exception was on the 11th when a retrograding cutoff low triggered some showers in the Tulare County Mountains and Foothills. The cutoff low ejected eastward on the 17th bringing the first significant rains to the valley since mid April. This was followed by a strong storm on the 19th which brought over an inch of rain to much of the valley and 2 to 4 inches of rain to higher elevations. The highest elevations in the mountains (above 10000 feet) picked up two to three feet of snow, and some snow was reported down to 6500 feet by the time the event ended on the 20th. Post frontal showers and thunderstorms fired up during the afternoon of the 20th. One cell spawned a weak tornado near Dinuba which prompted an early arrival for my swing shift which was common for me when I was in Montana. After three hours of following cells on the radar (I was close to warning on two cells which showed some tilt and rotation), skies cleared out and one of the biggest storms in my time here came to an end. I was lucky enough this time to make an operational impact as I issued follow-up highlights for strong winds and mountain snow. High pressure then came in behind it for three days leading to the first morning with dense fog in the valley on the 23rd. A weak storm tracking north of the area on the 24th brought some light precipitation to the northern fringes of the area. Another powerful winter storm hit the area on the 26th bringing over an inch of rain to much of the valley and mountains snows and another bout of heavy snows in the mountains with one to two feet at 7000 feet and two to three feet at the highest elevations. This storm however, did not produce much in the way of winds. High pressure then arrived for the remainder of the month keeping cool and dry conditions with locally dense fog in the valley each morning. The month ended up being colder than normal and one of the five wettest Octobers of all time with several records being broken during the second half of the month.
November 2004 - The month began on the clear and cool side until a retrograding cutoff low brought some light precipitation to the area on the 3rd. This low hung off the cost for five days before ejecting on the eighth, bringing another round of light precipitation allowing me to issue several NOWs during my day shift and get in the action. The next trough which moved through on the 12th brought some locally heavy rainfall to the northern foothills. An upper low dropped south along the coast behind this trough on the 13th and brought another round of light precipitation. High pressure followed, but a persistent layer of low clouds prevailed over the valley between the 15th and the 19th. An inside slider low ripped out the stratus on the 20th then took a retrograding turn over toward southern California and bringing some light rain to the south valley, and a round of Mono winds to the Mountains and Deserts on the 21st. Numerous reports of wind damage were reported across the mountains, foothills and Kern Deserts as the were numerous gusts over 70 mph and some over 100 mph. This was followed by the first three mornings with sub-freezing temperatures in parts of the valley. An arctic front moved through on 27th and 28th which brought some light precipitation and a quick shot of breezy to windy conditions in the higher elevations. The month ended with clear skies and chilly mornings with lows in the 20s throughout the valley. The month ended much colder and drier than usual.
December 2004 - The month began on the cold and dry side with the arctic airmass hanging around. Morning lows were in the 20s for the first four mornings. I actually bundled up like I did in Montana on the 2nd as I took Angela to the hospital on a clear morning with a digital thermometer reading 23. Two days later we hit 21 which was the coldest I have seen in this area since moving here. Warm downslope winds finally hit the valley on the fifth keeping temperatures above the freezing mark. The first storm of the month hit on the 7th and it brought a quarter to half and inch of rain to the valley and 12 to 18 inches of fresh powder above 6000 feet. High pressure followed with low clouds and fog persisting form the 11th through the 15th. The fog returned again on the 19th and became low clouds which persisted through the 21st. Dense fog then became the main issue until skies cleared out on the afternoon of the 24th and Christmas features a sunny and cold afternoon. Temperatures warmed up on the 26th ahead of a big storm which brought moderate to heavy rainfall on the 28th with the valley receiving half an inch to an inch while the deserts received more rain than the valley (which is rare during the winter) and mountains picked up a good 5 to 12 inches of snow at higher elevations. This storm was also a big wind producer in the south valley and foothills. Another storm which hit on the 31st was even more of a rain maker as over an inch of rain fell across portions of the valley and the higher elevations picked up three to five feet on new snow. The year nearly ended up on the wet side thanks to the last week of the month. Precipitation was much above normal while temperatures were slightly below normal.
And back to The TxKid Homepage