February 4, 2021
Summary: California remains under a northwesterly flow aloft around the eastern side of a massive high pressure system which covers the eastern Pacific and roughly the western ¼ of the US. Most of the upslope clouds have now dissipated with the exception of a narrow ribbon of clouds along southeastern foothills of Tulare County and along the Tehachapi Mountains, but even they are decreasing with time.
Dew points are quite high however, even though temperatures have only struggled into the lower 50s this afternoon. Most locations are reporting dew points only the upper 30s to the lower 40s. areas of fog are pretty much a surety towards the center of the valley tonight and Wednesday morning with areas of below freezing temperatures which are discussed below in the frost section.
The high will slowly flatten out over the weekend, allowing a westerly flow across the Pacific and into north America. The storm track will remain well to our north through at least the middle of next week. There are models suggesting a weak wave of low pressure will move through the Pacific Northwest and northern California about Thursday of next week. Until then our main nemesis will be areas of night and morning fog with hazy afternoon sunshine.
Beginning Monday, periods of mid and high level clouds will over run the high, adding a bit of interest to the sky beginning about the middle of next week.
Forecast: Areas of night and morning fog and low clouds, mainly up and down the center of the valley, each morning through Sunday with hazy afternoon sunshine. Mostly clear to partly cloudy Monday through Wednesday night with areas of night and morning fog and low clouds. Mostly cloudy Thursday.
Short Term:
| Madera 31/61/34/63 | Reedley 31/62/34/64 | Dinuba 30/61/33/63 | |
| Porterville 30/62/34/65 | Lindsay 30/61/33/65 | Delano 31/62/35/66 | |
| Bakersfield 37/61/39/66 | Taft 43/59/44/64 | Arvin 34/63/36/66 | |
| Lamont 33/62/36/66 | Pixley 30/62/35/65 | Tulare 30/61/34/64 | |
| Woodlake 30/62/34/64 | Hanford 31/62/35/65 | Orosi 30/62/34/64 | |
Winds: Winds during the mid morning to afternoon hours will be variable at or less than 10 MPH through Sunday. Winds during the night and early morning hours will be no more than 7 MPH with extended periods of near calm conditions.
Rain: Expect dry conditions for at least the next seven to ten days.
Frost: Temperatures as of 1:30 had only warmed into the lower 50s. Dew points were fairly high, however, and were generally in the upper 30s to the lower 40s. skies have generally cleared with some lingering clouds along the foothills of southeastern Tulare County and Kern County. Those clouds will be gong in a few hours. Even despite relatively high dewpoints, radiational cooling will be strong enough to lower temperatures in those usual trouble spots down to 28 to 29 or so with most flat land locations ranging from 29 to34 and with slightly above freezing temperatures on hillsides. Tonight will be the coldest of this week as temperatures aloft have already warmed considerably. The freezing level above Vandenberg this afternoon had jumped to 12,600 feet, a good foreboding of warmer nights ahead. Even so, lows Saturday morning will still make it down to 30 to 31 with most locations above freezing. For Sunday and beyond, the combination of in and out cloud cover and a mild westerly flow aloft will guarantee above freezing conditions.
Lows Tonight:
| Terra Bella
30 |
Porterville
30 |
Ivanhoe
29 |
Woodlake
30 |
| Strathmore
30 |
Mcfarland
31 |
Ducor
31 |
Tea Pot Dome
30 |
| Lindsay
30 |
Exeter
29 |
Famoso
31 |
Madera
31 |
| Belridge
29 |
Delano
31 |
North Bakersfield
31 |
Orosi
30 |
| Orange Cove
30 |
Lindcove
30 |
Lindcove Hillside
Af |
Sanger River Bottom
28 |
| Root Creek
27 |
Venice Hill
30 |
Rosedale
32 |
Jasmine
31 |
| Arvin
33 |
Lamont
33 |
Plainview
30 |
Mettler
32 |
| Edison
34 |
Maricopa
30 |
Holland Creek
32 |
Tivy Valley
29 |
| Kite Road South
32 |
Kite Road North
29 |
AF=Above Freezing
Next update: February 3/am