February 24, 2021
Summary: A dry fast moving low pressure system is currently moving through Nevada and Utah. Pressure is falling rapidly over southern Nevada and the Desert Southwest while just the opposite is occurring over Oregon and Idaho where steep rises have been noted. The current pressure at Boise, Idaho is 30.42 inches of mercury while down at Phoenix, Arizona, the pressure has fallen to 29.94. this has created a strong off shore flow which will result in strong Santa Anas to our south. As expected, strong winds are working down the far west side of the valley. Lemoore is reporting winds out of the northwest at 17 MPH, gusting to 26, Huron is reporting gusts to 30 MPH, and Kettleman Hills reports 29 MPH gusts. This particular configuration results in generally light winds in the center, east, and southern portions of the San Joaquin Valley.
Just as quickly as the system departs into the Desert Southwest, another low will race down the east side of high pressure located over the eastern Pacific, through the Pacific Northwest, and once again into Nevada and Utah. This results in a northerly flow aloft and a northeast flow at the surface, spreading a marginally cooler air mass over central California with another round of gusty winds along the far west side of the valley. The off shore high will build a ridge into western Canada and the Pacific Northwest Friday through Sunday, resulting in a total lack of precipitation.
Some models are showing a low pressure system moving southward off the coast Sunday and Monday, then inland through Southern California Wednesday. we’ll study this in the coming days to see if there’s any credence.
Forecast: Mostly clear skies through Saturday night. mostly clear Sunday through Tuesday night with increasing clouds Wednesday.
Short Term:
| Madera 34/64/33/63 | Reedley 35/65/33/65 | Dinuba 33/64/32/63 | |
| Porterville 34/65/32/65 | Lindsay 33/66/31/66 | Delano 35/65/33/67 | |
| Bakersfield 39/66/38/65 | Taft 42/64/43/65 | Arvin 37/67/34/67 | |
| Lamont 36/66/34/68 | Pixley 34/65/32/66 | Tulare 34/64/31/65 | |
| Woodlake 33/65/31/65 | Hanford 34/65/33/67 | Orosi 33/66/31/65 | |
Winds: Winds along the I 5 corridor will be out of the north to northwest tonight at 15 to 25 MPH, locally gusting to 35 MPH. elsewhere, winds will be variable to around 10 MPH. Winds Thursday and Thursday night will be generally at or less than 12 MPH. Winds Friday and Saturday will be mainly out of the northwest at 8 to 15 MPH with gusts to 35 MPH possible along the far west side.
Rain: Expect dry conditions for at least the next week to ten days.
Frost: Dew points this afternoon are up into the mid 40s except along the west side where gusty north to northwest winds are occurring and dew points have fallen into the mid to upper 20s. with dew points hanging up pretty nicely over much of the district, my feeling is lows tonight will drop down to 33 to 37 at most locations. However, it is possible those traditional cold spots could drop down to 31 or 32 for short durations. There will be a greater risk Friday and Saturday mornings of more locations being in the low 30s. Currently, a northerly flow aloft is underway along with a strong off shore flow which will end later Thursday and Thursday night only to renew Friday through Saturday. Low to mid 30s are certainly possible Saturday and Sunday mornings and possibly Monday morning. some models are showing a storm system moving through the southern half of California Wednesday, keeping temperatures up later next week.
Next update: February 25/am