January 8, 2019
Summary: Mostly clear skies and unusually warm temperatures along with gusty winds have been the weather story over the valley portion of Kern County. As of 1:00pm, it was 70 degrees at Bakersfield, but once you got north of the Kern County line, readings were in the low to mid 60s. downslope winds off the Tehachapis are continuing this afternoon, but certainly at levels that are manageable. At 1:00pm, Mettler was reporting gusts to 30 MPH and once we get to the Edison/Arvin region, winds are gusting to 15 to 25 MPH. Pressure differences will relax as the evening progresses, ending the winds from last night and this morning. In the meantime, clouds were increasing north of Kern County with light rain showing up as far south as Lodi in the extreme north valley and Santa Cruz along the coast. So far these rain returns are not really impressive at all.
As this storm moves through tonight through Wednesday night, there will be light rain periodically. This will be not a major event as far as precipitation is concerned, but it will open the door to a more complex pattern this weekend. Expect dry weather Thursday through Friday with even some areas of fog and low clouds during the later night and morning hours.
There are two more storms out there. The first will track southeastward out of the Gulf of Alaska, taking a track that will just miss the central coast as it spreads precipitation into possibly just the west valley, although that’s up for debate. The low is then projected to move inland over northern Baja and southern California Saturday. The best chance for anything noteworthy would be in the south and west sides of the valley which, of course, will be closer to the source. We may see a short break sometime during the weekend, but a new low will approach the southern and central California coast Sunday into Monday.
This one, at least on paper, seems to have a better chance of spreading rain and higher elevation snow into central California. From next Wednesday through Friday sometime, some models show a very moist river air aimed right at central California, placing it ideally for strong orographics. By that, I mean as the jet stream moves over the coast range, and more especially over the Sierra Nevada, the air is rapidly lifted then condenses into precipitation as the air aloft is much cooler. The new two week outlook continues to point in the same direction for the 16th through the 22nd. Above average temperatures and precipitation are depicted.
Forecast: Increasing cloudiness later tonight with sprinkles possible during the late evening hours. Periods of light rain later tonight, continuing on and off through Wednesday evening. A slight chance of showers for a time Thursday morning. Partly cloudy Thursday afternoon through Friday. Areas of low clouds and fog are possible either Thursday or Friday mornings. Mostly cloudy Friday night through Monday with a chance of rain later Friday night and Saturday, especially along the west side and in Kern County. Periods of rain will be possible over the entire area Saturday night through through Monday. Partly cloudy Monday night through Tuesday.
Short Term:
| Madera 51/60/43/58 | Reedley 52/60/43/59 | Dinuba 50/58/42/57 | |
| Porterville 49/61/43/59 | Lindsay 50/61/43/61 | Delano 52/61/45/61 | |
| Bakersfield 55/64/47/62 | Taft 55/62/48/62 | Arvin 52/63/47/62 | |
| Lamont 52/63/45/62 | Pixley 51/61/44/60 | Tulare 50/58/44/58 | |
| Woodlake 50/61/44/60 | Hanford 53/60/42/60 | Orosi 50/61/44/58 | |
Winds: Looking around at Kern County this afternoon, we still have pockets where winds near the mountains are gusting to 30 MPH or so. Even at the bottom of the Grapevine, winds have backed off a bit as they are gusting to 37 MPH at last report. These winds will decrease this evening with gusts of generally less than 10 MPH. winds tonight through Wednesday night will generally face a southeast direction at 5 to 15 MPH. Winds Thursday through Friday will be generally less than 10 MPH with periods of near calm conditions.
Rain: Doppler radar is picking up light bands of showers as far south as off shore San Luis Obispo. Inland, there is light shower activity over the Sacramento Valley as far south as Modesto. In our neck of the woods, we won’t see much, at least not through midnight. The chance of light rain will increase after midnight with generally light rain off and on Wednesday into very early Thursday morning. This storm is not major by any take, especially not at our latitude. I would anticipate no more than .10 in Kern County to possibly as much as .25 from the Kern County line to Madera County with possibly .10 or so along the west side.
Frost Discussion: Each night will be above freezing for the next seven to ten days.
Next report: Wednesday morning/January 9