February 8, 2020
Summary: A dry cold front is currently moving through the northern San Joaquin Valley. It’s difficult to tell there’s even a frontal band there as very little cloud cover is evident. Behind the front up into the Pacific Northwest, a cold wave of low pressure stretches from Oregon to Wyoming. This wave will form a closed low over south/central California Sunday afternoon and evening. Light snow showers will rapidly spread down the Sierra Nevada and over the Kern County mountains Sunday and Sunday night. the chance of measurable rain on the valley floor is very marginal. The chance at any given location is less than 20%, perhaps a little higher over the valley portion of Kern County.
The closed low will drop into southern California Sunday night where the chance of showers is higher as the low gets its act together. In the meantime, a ridge of upper level high pressure will build northward off the Pacific coast and into the Gulf of Alaska. The result will be a north/northeast flow over California which will pump colder and dryer air into the region. Below freezing temperatures are again likely in at least some areas Monday and will be more widespread Tuesday. More below in the frost discussion.
By Wednesday, that high over the eastern Pacific will shift far enough to the east to set up a northwesterly flow. With rising pressures aloft, temperatures will respond accordingly as temperatures move back into the 60s during the day.
The next cold low will be an inside slider, dropping southward too far to the east to have much impact late Thursday night and Friday. Most models indicate California will be on the eastern flank of high pressure off shore next weekend with a dry northwesterly flow continuing. Still no indication of a pattern that would result in rain with the exception of that small chance tomorrow.
Forecast: Clear skies through the late evening hours. Partly cloudy after midnight. Variable cloudiness Sunday with a slight chance of light showers, mainly near the Sierra Nevada foothills and/or near the base of the Kern County mountains. Clearing Sunday night with the exception of Kern County where upslope clouds may hang in there until Monday morning. mostly clear Monday afternoon through Thursday night. Partly cloudy Friday through Saturday.
Short Term:
| Madera 35/56/31/59 | Reedley 36/57/32/58 | Dinuba 34/55/30/58 | |
| Porterville 35/57/31/60 | Lindsay 34/57/30/59 | Delano 36/57/32/60 | |
| Bakersfield 40/55/35/58 | Taft 44/55/38/58 | Arvin 37/55/34/59 | |
| Lamont 37/55/33/59 | Pixley 36/56/31/60 | Tulare 34/55/30/59 | |
| Woodlake 35/56/31/59 | Hanford 36/56/32/59 | Orosi 34/56/30/58 | |
Winds: Winds this evening will be generally light, increasing during the late evening hours out of the northwest at 10 to 20 MPH with stronger gusts along the west side. Winds Sunday along the west side will increase to 15 to 30 MPH with gusts possibly exceeding 45 MPH. Winds elsewhere will be out of the northwest at 8 to 15 MPH with stronger gusts. Light winds will return Sunday night with the exception of the Interstate 5 corridor where winds will be out of the north at 15 to 25 MPH. Winds Monday through Tuesday will be generally at or less than 10 MPH with periods of near calm conditions, mainly during the night and morning hours.
Rain: There is only a slight chance of light showers Sunday, mainly along the Sierra Nevada foothills, with a slightly higher risk over the valley portion of Kern County, especially near the base of the mountains. If precipitation does occur, no more than a few hundredths would be the result. Dry weather will return Sunday night and will continue for the remainder of next week and possibly well into the following week.
Frost Discussion: All locations will be above 32 degrees tonight, but only slightly above in the coldest regions.
A cold low will drop southward through central California Sunday and into southern California Sunday night. a chilly north/northeast flow aloft will follow the low. A strong off shore flow will also develop Sunday night through Tuesday. Gusty winds out of the northwest will begin tonight, continuing into Sunday evening. The combination of a colder air mass and falling dew points could allow coldest unprotected locations to drop to 27 to 29 degrees Monday and Tuesday mornings with flat terrain locations dropping to 29 to 32. This is a cold air mass coming in, but does not really rival the air mass of earlier this week.
By Wednesday morning, the modification process will begin, although coldest locations Wednesday morning could still drop down to 29 to 31 with most other locations coming at about 31 to 36.
All locations will be above freezing Thursday and for the remainder of next week and for the following week, as well.
Next report: February 9/morning