Summary: North of Kern County, there are again pockets of dense fog this Thanksgiving morning. As of the time of this writing, Hanford was down to one-half mile visibility with both Merced and Madera reporting one-quarter of a mile visibility. Hazy conditions are being reported elsewhere. Satellite imagery shows a swath of mid and high level clouds extending from southwest to northeast from the tropics to northern and central California. These clouds will become more apparent over the next couple of days, especially north of Kern County, but they pose no threat of active weather.
Strong upper level high pressure is maintaining itself well over northwest Mexico, keeping a warm bubble of subsiding air over our region. The freezing level overnight at Vandenberg was 14,400 feet.
Models continue to show a low pressure system dropping into the Pacific Northwest later Saturday and Saturday night then driving a cold front through northern and central California Sunday and Sunday night. the last couple of computer runs have been fairly consistent in giving a reasonable chance of light showers as far south as Fresno County and a steadily reduced chance of light showers in the south valley. In any event, this will not be a major weather feature for central California, but it will return the weather back to more of a normal temperature regime as readings fall from the mid 70s to the lower 80s today down into the low to mid 60s early next week.
After the front moves through, upper level high pressure will begin to move in from the west, again shunting the storm track well to our north for several days of dry weather and possibly increasing amounts of night and morning fog and low clouds. This will depend on how much precipitation wets the ground.
One medium range model shows high pressure over the west backing off shore about the second or third of December for a possible change in our weather. besides that, nothing too exciting is out there to report. Relax and enjoy your Thanksgiving!
Forecast: Areas of fog and low clouds north of Kern County and mainly up the center of the valley nights and mornings. Otherwise it will be mostly clear to occasionally partly cloudy through Saturday. Increasing cloudiness Saturday night. light showers becoming likely Sunday from Fresno County northward with a lesser chance further south. A chance of light showers Sunday night, again mainly north of Fresno County. Partly to mostly cloudy Monday into early Tuesday. Clearing Tuesday afternoon. Becoming mostly clear Tuesday night through Thursday with areas of night and morning fog.
Short Term:
| Madera 75/47/72/47/75 | Reedley 75/48/72/49/75 | Dinuba 76/48/74/48/76 | |
| Porterville 78/46/72/48/77 | Lindsay 78/45/72/47/77 | Delano 77/49/72/49/77 | |
| Bakersfield 79/54/75/53/78 | Arvin 80/52/73/53/79 | Taft 79/55/73/54/80 | |
| Lamont 78/52/73/52/80 | Pixley 77/47/72/48/77 | Tulare 76/46/74/47/76 | |
| Woodlake 76/48/75/48/75 | Hanford 77/48/72/48/77 | Orosi 75/45/72/47/76 | |
Winds: Winds will be generally less than 10 MPH with periods of near calm conditions through Sunday.
Rain: The last three model runs have been pretty consistent in moving light showers as far south as Fresno County Sunday and Sunday night. The front then weakens rapidly as it moves southward for only a chance of light showers as far south as Kern County. As far as amounts are concerned, it’s possible a tenth or two could occur from Fresno north with this event, sloping to just a few hundredths at most over the valley portion of Kern County. This system will not hang around long as a new ridge of high pressure takes over Monday and pretty much governs the pattern for the remainder of next week, if models hold. So it appears that outside of this one fast moving system Sunday and Sunday night, the dry weather regime will continue. One model does indicate a possible change about the second or third of December, but for now there’s not enough to go on to really get excited as of this juncture.
Frost Information: All locations will continue to be above freezing through at least Monday night and quite possibly longer. A cold front will bring in a colder air mass Sunday and Sunday night which could potentially lower temperatures into the mid to upper 30s Tuesday and Wednesday mornings as skies clear and the lower level of the atmosphere settles down. For now, this appears to be a typical November air mass with no significant threat of a frost or freeze event. There is a small chance of river bottom and like locations dipping into the lower 30s which is more or less normal for late November anyway.
As far as the longer term is concerned, there is nothing on paper at this time to suggest a particularly cold pattern on the horizon.
Next Report: Friday morning, November 24