November 20, 2020
Summary: A considerable amount of mid and high level clouds are streaming across the southern half of the valley this afternoon. This is moisture caught up in the west to east flow across the eastern Pacific underneath a weak low located about 600 miles west of San Francisco. The off shore low will eventually move across central and southern California about Sunday and Monday followed quickly by another trough of low pressure which will stretch from British Columbia to southern California. Lift may add enough dynamics to the system for some showers over the high Sierra, but no precipitation is expected on the valley floor.
Beginning Tuesday, upper level high pressure over the eastern Pacific will expand into California and will begin what promises to be a very nice Thanksgiving weekend, mask or no mask. The high will dominate the pattern through Sunday.
About the second of December, it looks like an amplified pattern will begin to set up with a massive upper high building just off the Pacific coast northeastward into western Canada while a vigorous trough of low pressure dives southward from Canada and into the interior west. This pattern would produce a lot of weather over the Rocky Mountain region. The reason I’m interested in this pattern is that if the main players shift further west, we could be looking at a cold weather episode. For now, we’ll keep that out of the official forecast while watching to see if this trend continues.
Forecast: Variable cloudiness through this evening then becoming mostly clear. Areas of fog and low clouds will develop after midnight, mainly north of Kern County. Mostly clear with occasional high clouds Saturday through Sunday with areas of low clouds and fog again Sunday morning. variable cloudiness Sunday night through Monday evening. Mostly clear later Monday night through Friday with occasional high clouds and areas of night and morning fog and low clouds.
Short Term:
| Madera 34/62/33/63 | Reedley 35/62/34/64 | Dinuba 34/61/32/63 | |
| Porterville 35/62/33/64 | Lindsay 33/62/32/64 | Delano 36/61/35/65 | |
| Bakersfield 41/63/42/65 | Taft 45/63/46/64 | Arvin 39/63/37/64 | |
| Lamont 39/63/36/65 | Pixley 34/63/33/65 | Tulare 34/62/33/63 | |
| Woodlake 32/62/32/63 | Hanford 36/62/334/64 | Orosi 32/61/32/63 | |
Winds: Winds during the night through midmorning hours will be generally at or less than 5 MPH with extended periods of near calm conditions through Monday. Winds during the late morning through afternoon hours will be variable to 10 MPH.
Rain: Expect dry weather tonight and for at least the next 7 to possibly 10 days.
Frost: A great deal of mid and high level clouds continue to move across the valley this afternoon while the northern half of the state has cleared out. The cleaer skies to our north will migrate to the south with relatively clear skies later tonight. dew points are running in the mid 40s again this afternoon, but because of the cloud cover, temperatures are down 4 to 8 degrees from yesterday at this time. Pockets of low clouds and fog will form after midnight but likely will not be widespread enough to hinder the radiational cooling process.
Coldest river bottom and similar low spots will dip down to 29 to 31 degrees tonight with most locations ranging from 32 to 37 or so. Hillsides, of course, will remain above freezing. Similar conditions can be expected Sunday morning.
Monday may be a tad warmer if cloud cover moves in.
From Tuesday through Friday, most locations will dip into the 30s.
For the second day in a row, models are picking up on a strong trough of low pressure diving southward into the interior west about December 2. An equally impressive high is shown just off the Pacific coast. This pattern would certainly allow a great deal of cold air to dive southward into the interior west. For now, this is only showing Rocky Mountain region and points eastward being affected, but it’s certainly something to watch as we move through the remainder of November.
Lows Tonight:
| Terra Bella
Af |
Porterville
Af |
Ivanhoe
32 |
Woodlake
32 |
| Strathmore
Af |
McFarland
Af |
Ducor
Af |
Tea Pot Dome
Af |
| Lindsay
32 |
Exeter
32 |
Famoso
Af |
Madera
Af |
| Belridge
31 |
Delano
Af |
North Bakersfield
Af |
Orosi
32 |
| Orange Cove
32 |
Lindcove
32 |
Lindcove Hillside
Af |
Sanger River Bottom
30 |
| Root Creek
32 |
Venice hill
Af |
Rosedale
Af |
Jasmine
Af |
| Arvin
Af |
Lamont
Af |
Plainview
Af |
Mettler
Af |
| Edison
Af |
Maricopa
Af |
Holland Creek
Af |
Tivy Valley
Af |
| Kite Road South
Af |
Kite Road North
Af |
AF=Above Freezing
Next report: November 21/morning