Weather in the Central California Interior in 2008
The following is account of significant weather by month that I have observed or worked through in 2008.
January 2008 - The new year began quietly with a night of dense fog in the valley and a tranquil day, but most of January was not like that. It turned out to be one of the most active months in my 13 1/2 years in the service. On the morning of the 2nd the fog was not as widespread, but temperatures bottomed out causing freeze damage to some crops in the valley. A storm was expected on the 3rd, but it fizzled out and didn't do much. A powerful storm then hit the area on the 4th and 5th, arriving just as my midnight shift on the 4th ended; and warnings were in place. As I slept in, the storm produced very strong winds in the Valley and Kern Deserts while the upslope favored Sierras picked up 6 to 8 feet of new snow. Most of the valley picked up over an inch of rainfall on the evening of the 4th and early morning of the 5th. Another storm moved through on the afternoon and evening of the 8th, but precipitation was mostly of the mountains north of Kings Canyon which picked up 6 to 12 additional inches of power. Just a few hundredths of an inch elsewhere. An over hyped storm which turned out to be weak barely clipped the northern areas on the 10th. It was a good thing the storm fizzled out as I had to take my son to the emergency room leaving the office in an emergency staffing situation had the storm been any stronger. I returned the next day to run the shift on a dry day, but low clouds hanging around kept people concerned. Dry conditions with the usual morning fog in the valley prevailed for the next several days. I took the 18th to the 21st off then returned to lead fire extinguisher training on the 22nd then active weather returned that afternoon. My shift issued snow advisories for the mountains, but road closures in the Tehachapi Mountains prompted the issue of a winter storm warning the following day. Heavy rains produced flooding over portions of the valley on the 23rd during the evening. Two warm and dry days followed before another big storm hit on the 27th and 28th. The 27th was one of my most active shifts there was flooding in the Tehachapis, heavy snow in the Sierras (another 10 to 20 inches across the higher elevations); and high winds in the valley. Then thunderstorms fired up in the early afternoon prompting the issuance of the severe thunderstorm warnings. The cell which was warned on twice actually produced a small tornado which hit a mobile home park in Visalia and damaging winds in Orosi and Orange Cove. Most of the valley picked up a half to three quarters of an inch of rain. What I will always remember most about the storm is the many media interviews that had to be turned down because of the lack of available staff that day (on a Sunday). Two weaker storms then brushed the area before January ended as slightly warmer than normal with much more precipitation than usual because of the big storm on the 4th and 5th.
February 2008 - The active weather that prevailed for the last third of January continued on into February as a winter storm brought 6 to 12 inches of new snow to the Sierras north on Kings Canyon on the morning of the 1st. I issued a winter storm watch that day for the following storm on the 2nd and 3rd which did bring 1 to 2 feet of snow over the mountains and snow down to 3000 feet, but not as much as what was anticipated. Strong winds did not come with his storm and only two lightning strikes occurred in the valley in the colder air. A quarter to half an inch of rain was common in the valley. This was the storm which moved on to produce "tri state tornado #2" on the early morning of the 6th when I returned to the office. This kept my co-workers in Memphis up all night with ten person operations, and I followed the event on our interactive overhead display. Meanwhile the next two weeks were mainly dry with temperatures running generally a bit above normal. Valley fog was localized to strips and patches in the morning. A dry cold front pushed through the area on the morning of the 14th and brought strong winds to the Kern Mountains and Deserts and also some upslope rain to the south end of the valley while I was at the office booth at the ag expo destroying the private weather companies that were around. A freeze followed on the morning of the 15th. The holiday weekend which followed was quiet and mild. Active weather returned for the 20th through 24th as an MJO brought a series of storms into California. The first storm on the 20th brought a quarter to half an inch of rain over the valley. The front itself brought strong winds to the Kern Mountains and Deserts so I smacked out a wind advisory. Post frontal convection which was not anticipated by the models that afternoon produced a cell with large hail near Lake Isabella. After missing this storm two more cells were warned on, but didn't verify. I issued a winter storm watch for the second storm for the Sierras. This storm brought another 6 to 15 inches of snow above 6000 feet. Post frontal convection on the 22nd produced a cell with large hail over Arvin and smaller hail and funnel clouds elsewhere in the valley. I returned to the office to work midnight shifts on the 23rd and 24 the third storm hit. This storm was another powerful storm like the one in early January. Winter storm warnings were out for the mountains and wind highlights for most of the other areas. Winds gusted up to 60 mph at the south end of the valley while 18 to 36 inches of new snow was common in the Sierras. Rainfall totals were a quarter to half an inch in the central valley, but the south valley was rain shadowed and picked up very little. The NWR computer took a dump on the morning of the 24th while it was broadcasting all of the warnings. I deleted over 100 corrupted files before bringing the broadcasts back to life. The remainder of the month was dry with a warming trend as the storm track shifted well to the north of our area. The month overall was cooler and drier than usual.
March 2008 - The month began with a high wind event during my midnight shift on the 1st as a dry cold front crossed the area. An advisory was issued for the Kern Mountains and Deserts, but elsewhere the strong winds were localized. After two fairly cold days to begin the month, temperatures shot upwards with readings a little above normal at most locations through the 13th. An over hyped storm on the 6th did nothing, and I downplayed it. Finally on the 13th, a storm clipped our northern areas and brought 0.20 to 0.40 inches of rain to the Yosemite Park area, but little if anything elsewhere. Strong winds affected the Kern Mountains and Deserts so I re-issued an advisory and issued a special weather statement concerning a potentially dangerous thunderstorm outbreak on the 15th. My health took me out of the office on the 14th which was a bad day for another office as a tornado tore up Atlanta. I was ready to help if needed on the 15th, but followed the thunderstorms from home. Only two warnings were issued and one barely verified for large hail near Mendota. The impact this system had was the cooler temperatures. A damaging freeze hit portions of the valley on the morning of the 17th. A storm brought some light showers to Yosemite Park on the 19th, but otherwise had little impact. Temperatures jumped above normal; with much of the valley topping out in the 80s on the 23rd and 24th. I had a lot of quiet shifts during this period and spots for prescribed burns became the main workload. Another "powerful storm" was anticipated on the 26th, one neighboring office called it a "savior for the ski resorts". The storm was a total bust and left our area dry. Temperatures cooled by around 10 degrees behind it though. A weak storm did bring some light showers to the mountains and the 29th and 30th, but the valley remained mostly clear. March ended with near normal temperatures and much below normal precipitation.
April 2008 - Warm and dry conditions prevailed for the beginning of April as high pressure prevailed early on. A dry cold front moved through on the 4th. A storm went north of our area on the 8th bringing some light snow to the Sierra Crest. We battled our northern neighbors fiercely on another over hyped storm until it moved north of us. A warm spell followed with temperatures in the valley reaching the 90s by the 12th. A dry cold front ended the hot spell on the 14th and by the 15th temperatures were 20 to 30 degrees lower than two days before. However, two days after that temperatures were above normal. A cold front blasting trough on the 19th lowered temperatures 10 to 15 degrees and a period of increased winds to the Kern Mountains and Deserts. A storm moving north of the area on the morning of the 23rd did bring some light showers with some locations in Yosemite Park receiving a tenth of an inch while other areas picked up a trace to a hundredth of an inch. The remainder of the month was dry. Temperatures jumped again with highs in the 90s in the valley on the 27th and 28th. A dry cold front came through on the 29th to end the hot spell. April ended with slightly below normal temperatures and much below normal precipitation.
May 2008 - After a cool day to begin the month, temperatures warmed up to near normal for early May. Other than a stray shower over the Southern Sierras on the morning of the 4th it was a dry period. A series of dry cold fronts prevented a major warm-up until a large hot high pressure area brought triple digit heat to much of the valley and Kern Deserts from the 15th until the 20th when a strong cold front crossed the area during my evening shift. The cooler air behind this front kept temperatures below normal for the remainder of the month. I let a wind advisory ride for the Kern Deserts on the 20th then killed it on the 21st as winds dropped. A cold upper low the brought unsettled weather to the area for several days. Scattered showers hit the mountains on the 22nd, but I followed the action to our south where my co-workers in Oxnard and San Diego were issuing flash flood and tornado warnings and was ready to help out if needed. The 25th was unusually cool for late May with much of the valley remaining below 60 and nearly the entire area picking up some precipitation. The low slowly moved east of the area, but showers continued in the mountains for another two days and temperatures slowly rebounded, but remained well below normal through the 29th. High pressure came in on the 30th and skies cleared out. This unusual month ended with temperatures and precipitation both near normal although it was full of extremes.
June 2008 - June began in seasonable fashion with clear skies and slightly below normal temperatures for the first week. A dry cold front brought a round of advisory level winds to the area on the 4th which did bring some reports of light damage. Temperatures then warmed up as dry high pressure over the Southwestern US strengthened and brought a round of triple digit heat to most of the area below 3000 feet between the 13th and the 16th. A low level marine intrusion cooled the valley a little on the 17th and 18th, but the Kern Deserts remained hot. The marine air burned off on the 19th giving way to four days of triple digit heat in the valley. In fact several locations reached 110 on the 21st as records fell on the first day of summer. A dry storm moved through that evening setting off several large fires in the northern part of as a result of dry lightning. A slight cooling took place on the 22nd behind the storm and temperatures were quite seasonal for the remainder of the month. Some wet thunderstorms fired up over Yosemite Park on the 26th from favorable orographics. I issued one NOW for the strongest storm which I nearly warned on. 15 minutes later it was gone. The anticipated convection the next three afternoons was anything from reality. Only some showers affected Yosemite Park on the 28th otherwise it was quiet. The month was slightly warmer than normal and drier than normal since most of the area remained dry all month.
July 2008 - As the middle of the year is usually hot in the area, the first six days of July were fairly typical. Three large fires in the area was the biggest concern. Temperatures jumped on the 7th as highs were near 110 in the valley, foothills and Kern Deserts through the 10th. High humidity prevailed on the 9th and 10th prompting the issuance of an excessive heat warning. Temperatures cooled down a bit on the 11th, but highs were still near the century mark at many locations. Monsoonal moisture entered the picture on the 12th and my swing shift that day was a mess. I inherited a mess as products on the shift before were not issued and two emergency spot request came in. Once I got caught up a heavy thunderstorm stalled over the Piute Burn area and I got a call from the IMET indicating flash flooding was imminent in that area. I quickly put out a warning and the three type 1 teams who were on the fire were quickly evacuated. Extra staffing was used to handle spotter calls and media requests. The flooding caused $1.5 million in damages, but extinguished the Piute Fire which might have caused much worse damage. Eight warnings were issued on that shift. At least aviation was easy since the valley remained mostly clear. The following day was active as well with four flash flood warnings being issued for the Kern Mountains and Deserts. The Randsburg Road and Thompson Creek (near the Piute Fire) areas were the hardest hit. Most of the action on the 14th was before I came in for my shift, but there was still flash flooding near Tioga Pass in Yosemite Park and near Walker Basin. In exchange for me working a midnight shift instead of a swing shift on the 11th before all of the action took place, I was on "do not disturb" on the 15th and 16th as management made the deal with the devil (the devil being me as I went to Mayhem on the 15th to see Disturbed of all groups). This left the office at a loss on the 15th as another round a flash flooding hit the Kern Mountains and Deserts prompting the issuance of four flash flood warnings which overworked many of my co-workers. Some localized flash flooding in these areas occurred on the 16th, but thunderstorm coverage was isolated. When I returned on the 17th, there were only isolated light thunderstorms near Mount Whitney. I was pulled off of operations during the quiet day on the 18th to work a simulation of a tornadic event in Aberdeen three years ago. Temperatures finally dropped below normal on the 20th, but it was not from a cold front or marine influence. Debris clouds from thunderstorms in Arizona moved over the area that morning and a thunderstorm which formed near Delano and went straight up route 99 dropping light rain on the way. That along with some isolated showers brought some light rainfall to much of the valley and provided many locations with their normal July rainfall. Thunderstorms produced flash flooding in Ridgecrest that afternoon. I updated early on in my shift that day to lower temperatures and increase cloud cover and rain chances. The next day was even worse as I had to dry things out as the atmosphere dried out. Temperatures jumped up to near the triple digits again by the 23rd and other than a two day marine intrusion on the 28th and 29th, the rest of the month was hot and dry. July was slightly warmer than normal and was wetter than normal at most locations although the valley had some locations escape the rainfall on the 20th and didn't measure.
August 2008 - The month began as August usually does as the first 8 days had highs near the century mark across the valley and Kern Deserts. On my shift on the 3rd there was a thunderstorm threat, but the convection remained east and south of our area. I actually watched the Edwards radar for two neighboring offices (which had severe thunderstorms) until their extra staffing could come in. Isolated showers fired up near the crest on the afternoons of the 5th and 6th. A marine intrusion cooled the valley a bit on the 9th and 10th, but the higher elevations remained hot and dry. Triple digit heat prevailed over the valley, foothills and Kern Deserts between the 12th and 16th. I nearly warned on one cell in the Tulare County Mountains on the 15th. Several fires in the area meant a heavy spot load for me on the 16th and 17th. I took emergency leave on the 18th when Angie had a court ordered mediation hearing to attend and her lawsuit was settled that evening after a marathon session. A strong marine intrusion lowered temperatures on the 19th and 20th, but the next four days were return of near triple digit heat before a cold front blasted through on the 26th. The cooling lasted one day and by the 29th and 30th highs were approaching 110 in the valley and Kern Deserts. A much stronger cold front crossed on the 31st and highs dropped by around 15 degrees across the area. August ended warmer and drier than usual.
September 2008 - September began with an unusually cool day on the 1st, but temperatures quickly rebounded and the triple digits were back by the 4th and continued through the 8th. I inherited a mess on the 8th and had to update early on in my swing shift as there was no mountain convection since there was a capping inversion. A cold front pushed through on the 9th and the cap broke on the 10th allowing for thunderstorms to break out that afternoon, but there was nothing severe. Temperatures dropped below normal on the 10th which was nice for a change. Temperatures rebounded 10 degrees by the 12th while Hurricane Ike hit Houston prompting me to make abrupt homepage updates to minimize calls from concerned relatives. A monsoonal surge on the 16th didn't bring much in the way of thunderstorms and a cold front on the 17th dropped temperatures again. I stayed home sick on the 18th and slept for an entire day. When I returned for a swing shift on the 19th, everything was quiet operationally. Some fast moving storms passing by to the north of our area kept the area mild through the 22nd then the summer heat returned from the 24th through the end of the month. There were some dry thunderstorms in the valley on the 29th. September was drier than normal and a bit warmer than usual.
October 2008 - After a hot first day of October, temperatures cooled as the first winter storm of the season approached. The storm moved through on the 3rd and 4th and brought up to an inch of rain to the Southern Sierras with up to a foot of snow above 9500 feet. The valley was rain shadowed and generally had a tenth of an inch or less. Cooler temperatures and strong winds in the Kern Mountains and Deserts were also effects of this system. A dry period followed, but a dry storm on the 9th brought strong winds to the Kern Mountains and Deserts and also the west side of the valley. Temperatures bottomed out in the 30s in much of the valley on the 11th, 12th and 13th. Jury duty took me out of the office on the 14th when temperatures began to rebound, and by the afternoon of the 17th most of the valley was reached the 90s. Between the 23rd and 27th extremely low humidity in the Kern Mountains led to a four day Red Flag Warning which is a first for me in over 14 years. Temperatures were above normal for the remainder of the month, but a weak system brought some light precipitation on the 30th and 31st. I issued a wind advisory ahead of the approaching trough for the South Valley on my midnight shift on the 30th, but should have issued it for the entire valley. I helped give 12 presentations to older elementary school children in Lemoore on the 31st which was an uneventful way to end the month. October was warmer and drier than usual.
November 2008 - The month began on the active side with a subtropical jet bringing showers and thunderstorms all day to the Kern Deserts producing some nuisance flooding. The rest of the area was also affected by a warm storm which had snow levels above 10000 feet. Up to a quarter of an inch of rainfall in the valley and up to an inch in the mountains. After shift full of equipment failures on the 2nd, a cooler storm hit on the 3rd bringing up to another quarter inch or so of rainfall to the valley with higher amounts in the mountains. Strong winds affected the Kern Mountains and Deserts on the 4th behind this storm just as the change to the a new TAF format arrived. A quiet period followed until I went on midnights on the 7th. On the 8th another storm hit and it was mainly a wind producer for the Kern Mountains and Deserts and brought another quarter to half an inch of rainfall to much of the area. Another storm was hyped up by our northern neighbors to hit on on the 11th, but it didn't do anything but make make them look bad as it fell apart and just brought some high clouds. A long warm and dry period followed with highs in portions of the valley reaching the 80s between the 15th and 18th. I took a vacation too during this period and returned on the 24th just in time for the first strong storm in six weeks to affect the area between the evening of the 25th and the evening of the 26th. While the storm was a soaker with rainfall up to an inch in the valley, snow levels were close to 10000 feet and the winter storm warnings out for the Sierras were a bust. The storm did raise fuel moistures enough to end our fire season then the last four days of the month were dry with a warming trend a high pressure prevailed. November ended much warmer than usual and was also slightly wetter than usual.
December 2008 - The warm end to November continued over the higher elevations, but it was time for dense fog to form in the valley as December began. The fog lifted into stratus on the 2nd, and it cleared out for a few hours on the 4th from a dry storm then reformed and hung around through the 8th. Meanwhile the higher elevations remained clear and warm. A colder airmass moved in on the 9th breaking up all of the low clouds, but this allowed for fog to reform on the morning of the 10th which caused a 30 car accident near Goshen before breaking up in the afternoon That was the routine through the 13th with areas of dense fog in the valley each morning then a sunny and hazy afternoon. I issued several NPW expirations and NOWs for fog during this period. More active weather followed as a series of storms then moved through the area. The first hit on the 14th and 15th and brought up to an inch of rainfall to the valley and 3 to 5 feet of snow to the higher Sierras. Post frontal convection prompted the issuance of four severe thunderstorm warnings on the 15th and I smacked out two of them. This system was followed by a pesky cutoff low which tracked south of our area on the 16th and 17th producing up to a foot of snow over the Kern Mountains and 6 inches over the Kern Deserts where there were favorable upslope conditions. A shirt wave ridge behind it allowed for a hard freeze in the valley on the 18th before the next storm moved through on the 19th and 20th. This storm; however, fizzled out and didn't produce much precipitation although our northern neighbors hyped it up as a huge event. In fact much of the area was mostly sunny on both days. A storm did bring up to a quarter an inch of rainfall to the valley on the 21st and 22nd with 10 to 20 inches of new snow falling over the higher Sierras. A cold front followed Santa on Christmas Day, and brought a soaking rain to much of the area with snow down to 4000 feet. up to half an inch of rain in the valley with 18 to 30 inches of snowfall common in the Sierras, and 6 to 12 inches of powder in the Kern Mountains above 4000 feet. Even the high foothills had their some light snow of the season which prompted a winter weather advisory. The remainder of the month was dry with mainly sunny days through the 30th before 2008 ended with a foggy day in the valley. December ended slightly drier than usual with temperatures close to normal. The drought continued on as 2009 arrived.
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