March 16, 2019
Summary: Temperatures this afternoon are up 1 to 4 degrees over yesterday’s readings for the same time. In the foothills and mountains, readings are up 5 to 7 degrees. Upper level high pressure continues to build into the western U.S. and as early as tomorrow will extend from northwest Mexico to northwest Canada, pretty much dominating the western 1/3 of the western U.S. through Tuesday. By Tuesday evening, an elongated trough of low pressure will stretch from the Gulf of Alaska to off the southern California coast. This trough will be a slow mover and will be overhead Wednesday and Wednesday night for the likelihood of showers from Tuesday night through Thursday morning before the backside of the trough moves into the Great Basin and Desert Southwest. This will allow the next high pressure system to build in from the eastern Pacific.
Models are still not quite sure how to deal with a low which will be off the northern California coast about a week from tonight. From there, it’s expected to move into northern California late Saturday night into Monday. Some models show the southern half of California remaining dry while others continue to show showers as far south as Kern County. For now, we’ll just go with a dry forecast for that timeframe until some semblance of a trend develops.
Surprisingly, after a week from Monday, high pressure will take over for several days with no more rain expected until the end of the month. The two week model disagrees with that opinion, though, and indicates periodic unsettled weather for the last week of the month.
Forecast: Clear skies through Sunday night. mostly clear Monday and Monday night with occasional high clouds. Increasing cloudiness by late Tuesday. A chance of showers Tuesday night, becoming likely Wednesday through Thursday morning. A diminishing chance of showers Thursday afternoon. Partly cloudy Thursday night and Friday. Becoming mostly clear Friday night and Saturday.
Short Term:
| Madera 38/77/42/80 | Reedley 39/78/43/80 | Dinuba 37/76/42/79 | |
| Porterville 38/77/43/81 | Lindsay 38/77/42/80 | Delano 40/78/44/81 | |
| Bakersfield 44/77/48/82 | Taft 48/78/51/82 | Arvin 40/78/43/82 | |
| Lamont 41/77/47/81 | Pixley 39/77/43/79 | Tulare 39/76/42/78 | |
| Woodlake 39/77/43/78 | Hanford 41/77/45/79 | Orosi 39/76/41/78 | |
Winds: Winds late mornings and afternoons will be generally at or less than 12 MPH through Monday night while winds during the night and early morning hours will be less than 7 MPH with periods of near calm conditions. Winds will be out of the southeast at 10 to 15 MPH later Tuesday with stronger gusts, mainly from Fresno County north.
Rain: The timeline for showers to begin continues to be Tuesday night. the main trough of low pressure will move through Wednesday into early Thursday for a continuation of showers through at least the first half of the day Thursday. The chance of showers will diminish Thursday afternoon with dry weather Thursday night through Saturday. We’ll maintain a small chance of showers in the forecast for late Saturday night through Monday. Most but by no means all models show a chance of showers from Fresno County north, however others show precipitation remaining mainly in northern California. For now, we’ll just go with a small chance of showers late Saturday night into Monday of the following week.
Frost Discussion: All locations will be above 32 degrees.
Next report: Sunday morning/March 17