January 12, 2018
Summary: Low clouds continue to cover the lower Sacramento Valley southward to Merced County. Partial clearing has taken place over parts of Madera County and most of Fresno County has a low but thinning overcast. Southern Tulare and much of Kern County have partially cleared. Temperatures vary widely and depend on the low cloud deck. Kern and Tulare Counties have temperatures in the lower 60s while Merced is only at 50 degrees. More clearing will take place during the mid to late afternoon. Dew points are in the lower 50s this afternoon, meaning where skies clear tonight, fog will easily form and will be widespread by sunrise. Where the low cloud deck remains persistent, just a low overcast with patchy fog will rule the roost.
A strong high center is located west of Baja with a ridge extending northward into southern Oregon. A strong warm air inversion is above the valley floor, so expect widespread fog and low clouds with some afternoon clearing through Monday. The high will flatten out Tuesday, allowing a weak low pressure system to move through the state. Models have changed very little from this morning and indicate there will be a chance of light showers Tuesday, mainly from Fresno County northward.
On Wednesday and Wednesday night, partly cloudy skies will prevail under a weak ridge. Thursday through Friday are up for grabs at this point. Some models have backed off on the possibility of significant precipitation, especially for Thursday night and Friday, however no doubt models will flip flop back and forth over the next few days then start zeroing in on the situation. A colder air mass will follow with snow levels possibly down to 3,000 to 4,000 feet on the back edge of the storm.
Forecast: Mostly to partly cloudy this evening. Fog fanning out throughout the valley later this evening and becoming widespread by morning. Low overcast and fog Saturday through Monday night with clearing in some areas during the afternoons. Increasing cloudiness Tuesday leading to a chance of light showers from mainly Fresno County northward into Tuesday evening. Partly cloudy Wednesday and Wednesday night with patchy morning fog. Increasing cloudiness Thursday leading to a chance of rain Thursday night and Friday.
Short Term:
| Madera 44/58/47/57 | Reedley 45/57/46/57 | Dinuba 45/56/47/57 | |
| Porterville 43/59/45/58 | Lindsay 43/60/44/58 | Delano 46/60/47/59 | |
| Bakersfield 46/63/45/67 | Arvin 42/64/44/60 | Taft 50/65/51/70 | |
| Lamont 44/62/46/61 | Pixley 45/59/46/58 | Tulare 43/57/45/57 | |
| Woodlake 43/60/44/58 | Hanford 43/59/46/58 | Orosi 43/59/45/58 | |
Winds: Winds will be 10 MPH or less with near calm conditions during the overnight hours.
Rain: Very little has changed since this morning’s report. Dry weather will prevail through at least Monday night. a weak weather system will move through Tuesday and Tuesday night for a chance of light showers from mainly Fresno County northward. After that, the next chance of rain will be late Thursday and Friday. models have backed off a bit on the storm’s intensity, but this far out, no doubt models will flip flop until they zero in on a definitive solution.
Frost Information: Expect all locations to be above freezing through Friday morning. A colder air mass will dive southeastward from the Gulf of Alaska late Friday and Friday night, possibly lowering snow levels in the mountains down to 3,000 to 4,000 feet. This could lead to a series of frost nights, but the potential of this air mass is so far unclear. For now, I don’t believe it’s anything critical.
Lows Tonight:
All locations will be above freezing tonight.
Next Report: Saturday morning, January 13