February 13, 2021
Summary: A few light showers raced down the eastern side of the San Joaquin Valley this afternoon, leaving mainly trace amounts to a few hundredths. This activity will end in a few hours. Upslope clouds will keep generating tonight and for a good part of the day Sunday as a robust northwesterly flow moves down the valley and is lifted by the southern Sierra Nevada and Kern County mountains. Very strong differences in pressure currently exist between San Francisco and Las Vegas. To illustrate this, the current pressure at SFO is 30.06 inches of mercury while at Las Vegas, the current reading is 29.59. add to that a powerful 180 MPH jet stream across California. The high winds are blowing above the valley floor, however the deserts of southern California are taking a beating this afternoon. At last report China Lake was reporting gusts to 52 mph, Edwards Air Force Base 56 MPH, and Daggett 68 MPH.
The cold low diving through the interior west will form a powerful winter storm tonight over the Four Corners region. It will cause all kinds of cold, snowy weather over the Midwest and points eastward early next week.
In the meantime, to our west upper level high pressure will center well off shore, putting California on the eastern rim of the high. That puts us in a northwesterly flow aloft. Weak disturbances will race through the Pacific Northwest and into the Great Basin at times through Tuesday. One disturbance may spread light showers as far south as Merced County Monday and Monday night.
After Wednesday, the off shore high will begin to shift eastward, resulting in a slow warming trend.
Forecast: Mostly cloudy tonight and Sunday morning in Tulare and Kern Counties. Partly cloudy elsewhere. Partly cloudy Sunday afternoon and night. mostly cloudy Monday and Monday night. partly cloudy Tuesday. Clearing Tuesday night. Mostly clear to occasionally partly cloudy Wednesday through Saturday.
Short Term:
| Madera 37/59/36/59 | Reedley 38/58/36/59 | Dinuba 37/58/36/58 | |
| Porterville 40/59/36/58 | Lindsay 39/59/36/60 | Delano 41/60/38/59 | |
| Bakersfield 43/57/40/60 | Taft 42/56/48/59 | Arvin 41/57/39/59 | |
| Lamont 41/58/39/60 | Pixley 38/58/36/59 | Tulare 37/58/36/58 | |
| Woodlake 38/59/36/59 | Hanford 38/59/37/60 | Orosi 38/58/35/59 | |
Winds: Winds through Sunday will be mainly out of the northwest at 8 to 15 MPH. gusts to near 30 MPH would not be a surprise along the west side. Winds will decrease Sunday night. Winds Monday through Tuesday will be light and variable.
Rain: a few light showers are racing southward along the eastern side of the valley and into Kern County. Mostly just trace amounts to a few hundredths have been recorded. This activity will end by early this evening. Models do show light showers spreading down to Merced County Monday and Monday night. it’s possible a few sprinkles could make it down to Fresno County, but for now nothing measurable is anticipated. Tuesday and the remainder of next week will be dry. For now, there are too many model differences to project precipitation chances next week. At this point, we’ll continue with a dry forecast.
Frost: A colder air mass has overspread central California today. However, heavy cloud cover will remain along the eastern and southern flanks of the valley with wind conditions maintaining above freezing temperatures elsewhere. It’s possible a few wind sheltered locations could drop down to 34 ot 35 or so. Above freezing conditions can be expected Monday and Tuesday due to cloud cover. Skies will be generally clear Wednesday and Thursday. It’s possible river bottom and similar locations could drop into the lower 30s, however any worrisome frost issues are simply not on the horizon. Beyond Thursday, expect above freezing conditions.
Next update: February 14/am