January 4, 2018
Summary: The light precipitation that involved most of the valley this morning has come to an end with most locations reporting mostly clear to partly cloudy skies. A temporary ridge of upper level high pressure will govern the pattern through Friday. another weak subtropical low will move into northern California Friday night and Saturday. The southern flank of the low will move weakly through the valley for a small chance of light showers, mainly from Fresno County northward. A few showers cannot be ruled out in the south valley.
Saturday night through Sunday night, and probably Monday, will be dry. It won’t be until we get into the Tuesday night through Wednesday night time frame that things will get interesting. It’s possible we may see the strongest storm of the season to date as an intense low moves into northern California at mid week. On the surface chart this afternoon, for Wednesday it shows lots of isobars which means there will be the potential for strong, gusty winds especially in Kern County and along the west side. This type of storm is also fairly predictable as far as rain shadows go in Kern County and along the west side.
After Thursday, models seem to be reverting back to a dry pattern with a ridge of upper level high pressure just off shore and over California. Perhaps we’ll have a fog season after all after Thursday as the potential is there for a wet valley floor with high pressure.
By the way, for citrus growers, I just wanted to pass on that dew points are in the low to mid 50s this afternoon which is the best we’ve seen all season.
Forecast: Mostly clear to partly cloudy tonight and Friday. variable cloudiness Friday night and Saturday with a slight chance of showers, mainly from Fresno north. Partly cloudy Saturday night through Sunday night. mostly cloudy Monday with a slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy Tuesday through Thursday with rain likely Tuesday night through Wednesday, tapering off into showers Wednesday night and early Thursday.
Short Term:
| Madera 41/67/44/65 | Reedley 42/66/45/65 | Dinuba 41/65/43/64 | |
| Porterville 42/68/45/65 | Lindsay 41/67/44/65 | Delano 44/68/46/65 | |
| Bakersfield 46/69/49/65 | Arvin 43/70/49/66 | Taft 47/68/49/65 | |
| Lamont 42/69/45/66 | Pixley 41/68/45/65 | Tulare 41/66/44/64 | |
| Woodlake 41/67/45/64 | Hanford 41/66/46/64 | Orosi 41/67/45/65 | |
Winds: Winds will be generally less than 10 MPH through Sunday with periods of near calm conditions.
Rain: The light showers from earlier this morning have moved on, replaced by dry conditions which will last through Friday evening. The next subtropical low will approach the northern California coast Friday night through Saturday morning, resulting in only a limited chance of showers. Most of the activity will be north of Fresno.
Saturday afternoon through early Monday will be dry. Tuesday through early Thursday could see a strong winter storm off the northern California coast, spreading precipitation over the entire region. Many times with these strong winter storms, a strong rain shadow develops in Kern County and along the west side. Strong winds will blow downslope off the Kern County mountains and up the west side of the valley.
Models are now showing the ever present ridge along the west coast after Friday for a return to dry conditions and above average temperatures.
Frost Information: Expect above freezing conditions for the next week to ten days.
Lows Tonight:
All locations will be above freezing tonight.
Next Report: Friday morning, January 5