April 16, 2019
Summary: A cold front moved through central California overnight and has already progressed into southern Nevada, sweeping southwestward to near the San Diego mountains and out to sea from there. A weak trough of low pressure is following the front, resulting in generally light showers well into the early morning hours. Rainfall amounts have ranged from just a few hundredths over the valley portion of Kern County to near .33 at Del Rey in Fresno County. Other stats are reported below.
Skies will begin to clear this afternoon north of Kern and Tulare Counties. Scattered showers will continue well into the afternoon over the Sierra Nevada. A rather robust northwest flow will move down the valley today, creating upslope conditions along the valley facing slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the Tehachapi Mountains, where cloud cover may reside into Wednesday morning.
Models also show a 12 mb difference in pressure this afternoon between San Francisco and Las Vegas. This should spawn some gusty northwest winds along the west side and from Fresno County north with lighter winds in Tulare and Kern Counties.
Upper level high pressure off shore will quickly build inland beginning tonight, dominating our weather through Friday night. temperatures will warm from the upper 60s today to possibly near 90 Friday. The high will begin to back up off shore Saturday through Sunday, allowing a weak low to move into southern California Friday with little fanfare. A second system will drop into the Great Basin as an inside slider for a chance of showers over the Sierra Nevada. At this time, we’ll keep the forecast dry but cooler for the weekend, but we will be watching it closely.
After Sunday, models vary from a zonal or westerly flow with the storm track north of central California to a big ridge over the western states and off shore, which also would mean dry weather with above average temperatures.
Forecast: Mostly cloudy this morning with a chance of light showers. Clearing this afternoon, but remaining mostly cloudy in Kern County and southeastern Tulare County through Wednesday morning. Mostly clear and warmer Wednesday afternoon through Friday night. variable cloudiness late Saturday through Sunday and cooler. Mostly clear Sunday night through Tuesday.
Short Term:
Madera 68/45/77/50/87 | Reedley 69/44/77/50/87 | Dinuba 67/43/76/49/85 | |
Porterville 66/46/76/50/87 | Lindsay 66/44/76/49/86 | Delano 68/48/77/51/88 | |
Bakersfield 65/51/76/54/88 | Taft 69/52/78/54/89 | Arvin 65/49/77/51/89 | |
Lamont 66/49/78/52/89 | Pixley 68/44/77/50/86 | Tulare 67/43/76/49/85 | |
Woodlake 68/44/77/50/87 | Hanford 69/45/76/50/87 | Orosi 68/43/76/49/86 |
Seven Day Forecast:
Friday
Mostly clear 56/90 |
Saturday
Variable clouds 56/80 |
Sunday
Variable clouds 45/70 |
Monday
Mostly clear 48/77 |
Tuesday
Mostly clear 50/80 |
Two Week Outlook: April 22 through April 28: Models continue to indicate generally dry conditions as upper level high pressure will be the most dominant feature during this time frame. Overall, temperatures will generally be above average.
April: This model shows April will be fairly typical with near to marginally above average temperatures during the month. This model also indicates there will be equal chances of above or below average precipitation. In other words, the road map on this model is rather vague.
April, May, June: Like the April projection, this model really has no dominant features that would indicate either above or below average temperatures, although the overall pattern should result in marginally above average readings. We are moving into the dry season, and this model indicates equal chances of above or below average rainfall. As we move forward, this will become a moot point.
Winds: Winds this morning will be mainly variable to 15 MPH. Winds this afternoon through the evening will be out of the northwest at 10 to 20 MPH along the west side with stronger gusts and 10 to 15 MPH elsewhere. Winds will subside later tonight and will be generally less than 10 MPH. Winds Wednesday through Friday will be mainly at or less than 12 MPH and mostly out of the northwest afternoons and evenings.
Rain: The following are 24 hour rainfall totals as of 6:00am. Lemoore .18, Kettleman Hills .18, Tulare .17, Delano .09, Buttonwillow .05, Bakersfield .03, Fresno .23, Del Rey .31, Visalia .18, Hanford .17, Mettler .03, Lamont .03, Madera .09, Porterville .12, Harris Ranch .07, Huron .10.
There is still a chance of widely scattered light showers this morning, mainly along the east side and in Kern County, but most locations will remain dry from this point on. Dry weather will continue Wednesday through the weekend, although we will have to watch an inside slider moving into the Great Basin Saturday through Sunday. For now, it just appears to be showers over the Sierra Nevada, but this is a reminder that just three days before the current system, models were projecting dry conditions, as well.
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Afternoon Dew Points Today: Low to mid 40s. Kern: Low to mid 40s. Humidity values ranging from 35%/90% at Hanford. Bakersfield 50%/80%
Actual Humidity April 15, 2019: Delano, 79%/25% Porterville, 88%/NA%
Percentage of Sunshine Today/Tomorrow: Visalia: Today: 30%, tomorrow 60% Bakersfield: Today: 60% Tomorrow: 40%
ET Rates Over the Past Seven Days: Stratford 1.68, Parlier .NA, Blackwell 1.55, Lindcove .NA, Arvin 1.43, Orange Cove 1.27, Porterville 1.38, Delano 1.43. Courtesy University of California *=estimate, NA=not available.
Seven Day Soil Temperatures: Stratford 62, Parlier 63, Blackwell 58, Lindcove, 60, Arvin, 64, Orange Cove 59, Porterville 64, Delano 67
Record Temperatures: 95/35. Average Temperatures: 75/47
Cooling Degree Days this Season: 11 -3
Courtesy of the NWS
Average temperature for April so far: 62.4 +3.6
Precipitation: Seasonal total/average/above or below average:
Since Oct 1, 2018 Fresno: 9.30 season. or – .96. Month to Date: .22 -.32
Since Oct 1, 2018, Bakersfield: 5.90, or +.02. Month to Date: .01 -.30
Water year season is from October 1st through September.
Chilling Hours November 1st through February 28: Orange Cove, Parlier, Arvin, Shafter, Stratford, Lindcove, Porterville,
Hours at 45 or below 45.
Sunrise: 6:22 am Sunset: 7:35 pm. Hours of Daylight: 13:10
Yesterday’s Weather:
MAE : Madera 253 : DH1700 / 77 / 55 / 0.00 /
FAT : Fresno Airport 333 : DH1700 / 76 / 58 / 0.00 /
HJO : Hanford Airport 242 : DH1700 / 78 / 50 / 0.00 /
NLC : Lemoore Naval AS 234 : DH1700 / 77 / 48 / 0.00 /
BFL : Bakersfield Airport 496 : DH1700 / 79 / 52 / 0.00 /
VIS : Visalia Airport 292 : DH1700 / 77 / 50 / 0.00 /
ATEC1 : Avenal 787 : DH1654 / 76 / 48 / 0.00 /
PTV : Porterville Airport 442 : DH1700 / 78 / 49 / 0.00 /
TFTC1 : Taft 759 : DH1656 / 76 / 56 / 0.00 /
LOSC1 : Los Banos 120 : DH1600 / 73 / 55 / 0.00 /
Rainfall: Water year Oct 1st through September 30th
24hr Season % L.Y. % Ave. Ave. yearly total
STOCKTON T 15.68 123 8.77 69 12.74 14.06
MODESTO T 12.03 103 7.57 65 11.66 13.11
MERCED T 11.84 107 6.75 61 11.02 12.50
MADERA 0.00 9.75 92 6.95 66 10.59 12.02
FRESNO 0.00 9.22 90 6.40 62 10.26 11.50
HANFORD 0.00 7.49 84 4.56 51 8.91 10.10
BAKERSFIELD 0.00 5.90 100 3.86 66 5.88 6.47
BISHOP 0.00 7.55 179 1.13 27 4.21 5.18
SALINAS 0.00 12.25 104 6.85 58 11.83 12.83
PASO ROBLES 0.00 14.00 118 9.58 80 11.91 12.78
SANTA MARIA 0.00 14.47 111 5.75 44 13.04 13.95
Next report: Wednesday morning/April 17