March 4, 2018
Summary: A northwest flow continues to generate upslope cloudiness, especially in Tulare and Kern Counties. This flow is lifted by the Kern County mountains and the Sierra Nevada and condenses into clouds. There is a bit of uncertainty as to whether or not these clouds hang in there throughout the night. It’s possible they could last through the early morning hours, especially in Kern County, but that is by no means a guarantee as the air mass aloft will become drier hour by hour.
The overall whether pattern is upper level high pressure building in from the west. A cold layer of air remains on the valley floor and will create conditions favorable for below freezing conditions tonight. However, as the high continues to build and the flow aloft becomes more west to east, temperatures will become significantly warmer by Monday with warmer locations possibly eclipsing the 70 degree mark as early as Tuesday.
The pattern for Thursday and beyond is still not set in concrete. There does seem to be a trend developing, however, for a drier solution for Friday and Saturday. For now, it seems Sunday through Tuesday have a better shot at precipitation as another cold trough of low pressure digs southward from the Gulf of Alaska. Models vary on how far south precipitation will progress, but in the longer term it seems to be our best chance at rain.
For tonight, coldest overnight lows will drop down into the 27 to 28 degree range in river bottom and like locations where skies are clear with most other locations between 29 and 34. Durations at or below 28 in coldest locations will only be for a few hours, at worse. As mentioned above, a rapid warming trend will begin Monday and last through mid week as a mild westerly flow takes over.
Lows Tuesday morning will generally be in the mid to upper 30s with coldest locations possibly in the lower 30s. for Wednesday and beyond, temperatures will actually move into the lower 70s during the afternoons and jump into the upper 30s to the mid 40s for overnight lows Wednesday through Friday. Very mild conditions will prevail over the weekend with a small chance of showers Saturday and a greater possibility Sunday and Monday. So the bottom line is, no serious frost threat will be on the horizon.
Lows Tonight:
Terra Bella
30 |
Porterville
30 |
Ivanhoe
29 |
Woodlake
30 |
Strathmore
30 |
McFarland
31 |
Ducor
32 |
Tea Pot Dome
30 |
Lindsay
29 |
Exeter
29 |
Famoso
31 |
Madera
29 |
Belridge
30 |
Delano
31 |
North Bakersfield
31 |
Orosi
29 |
Orange Cove
28` |
Lindcove
29 |
Lindcove Hillside
32 |
Sanger River Bottom
26 |
Root Creek
28 |
Venice Hill
30 |
Rosedale
31 |
Jasmine
31 |
Arvin
32 |
Lamont
31 |
Plainview
30 |
Mettler
AF |
Edison
32 |
Maricopa
31 |
Holland Creek
31 |
Tivy Valley
29 |
Kite Road South
32 |
Kite Road North
29 |
Next report: Monday morning, March 5