December 14, 2021pm
It’s been quite a morning and early afternoon so far. It was fun watching an area of showers off the southern California coast blossom into a pineapple connection as heavy amounts of precipitation have been falling over the valley floor but more especially over the southern Sierra Nevada. I’ll start from the south and work my way north to give you storm totals. Buttonwillow .73, Taft .89, Bakersfield .77 as of 1:00pm, Delano .91, Exeter 1.32, Porterville 1.32, Tulare .87, Visalia 1.00, Hanford .87, Lemoore 1.21, Del Rey 1.21, Fresno 1.28.
Doppler radar is literally lit up like a Christmas tree from Fresno County south. The backside of the rain shield runs from western Fresno County south/southwest, clipping extreme northwest Kern County and then out to sea. This same channel of rich, subtropical juice is now moving into southern California where very heavy precipitation is falling. By late this evening, showers will have come to an end with a slot of dry weather for late tonight through Wednesday evening. Clouds will begin to increase again late Wednesday night ahead of the next cold low pressure system to move out of the Gulf of Alaska and into California. This storm pales in comparison to the current event. Still, we should receive decent amounts of precipitation.
Medium range models are generally coming into agreement on a pattern for next week. The chance of rain will again increase Monday and Tuesday as storm after storm rolls out of the Gulf of Alaska and into California. I haven’t received any snow reports yet from automated snow gauges over the high country. I would be more than willing to bet that possibly more than 4 to 6 feet of new snow has been tallied.
The new two week model out this afternoon is still indicating that more storms will move out of the Gulf of Alaska for below average temperatures and periodic storminess.
Forecast: Rain, ending this afternoon. Scattered showers this evening. There is also a slight chance of thunderstorms from midafternoon through the early evening hours. Partly to mostly cloudy later tonight and Wednesday morning. Partly cloudy Wednesday afternoon. Increasing cloudiness later Wednesday night. Showers Thursday and Thursday night. Mostly to partly cloudy Friday. Mostly clear to occasionally partly cloudy Saturday through Sunday with areas of fog and low clouds developing. Increasing cloudiness Sunday night with a chance of showers Monday through Tuesday.
Short Term:
| Madera 31/49/33/53 | Reedley 33/50/36/51 | Dinuba 32/49/35/51 |
| Porterville 33/49/37/53 | Lindsay 33/48/37/52 | Delano 34/49/36/52 |
| Bakersfield 37/48/36/52 | Taft 37/48/36/53 | Arvin 36/47/36/52 |
| Lamont 34/48/34/52 | Pixley 33/50/35/53 | Tulare 32/48/34/53 |
| Woodlake 32/49/35/52 | Hanford 33/48/35/51 | Orosi 32/50/36/52 |
Wind: Winds will be mainly out of the northwest at 8 to 15 MPH tonight with stronger gusts, mainly in the vicinity of lingering showers. Winds Wednesday will be light and variable. Winds will be out of the southeast Wednesday night at 8 to 15 MPH then will be out of the west at 8 to 15 MPH with locally stronger gusts. Winds Friday will be mainly out of the northwest at 8 to 15 MPH.
Rain: Rain will be ending over the next few hours. There is a chance of isolated thunderstorms this afternoon, but by and large, this storm will be coming to a close tonight with dry weather continuing Wednesday. If you haven’t read the weather summary, well, that’s where the current figures are and they’re most impressive.
The next storm will arrive Thursday. this system will not have a pineapple connection, but even so, wet spots on the east side could pick up an additional .25 to .33 with lesser amounts elsewhere. Dry weather will return late Thursday night and continue through Sunday. Models are coming into agreement about the next system upstream which should bring us even more precipitation Monday and Tuesday of next week with possibly yet another Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Frost: Even though this air mass is cold, the fact that the valley floor is soaked will hinder temperatures from falling much below freezing. Still, where it clears, temperatures could fall linto the upper 20s to the lower 30s for short durations. All in all, it will be a safe night with most locations falling into the low to mid 30s.
For Thursday morning, we should have another round of low to mid 30s at most locations. It’s very difficult to modify the air mass this time of year as the shortest day of the year is only days away. Nine hours and forty minutes isn’t much daylight not to mention the low sun angle with long shadows even at midday. For each morning through the weekend, upper 20s and lower 30s will be possible in those coldest locations. Most locations, though, will be in the low to mid 30s.
Lows Tonight:
| Terra Bella
33 |
Porterville
32 |
Ivanhoe
31 |
Woodlake
32 |
| Strathmore
Af |
McFarland
30 |
Ducor
32 |
Tea Pot Dome
32 |
| Lindsay
31 |
Exeter
32 |
Famoso
Af |
Madera
31 |
| Belridge
31 |
Delano
33 |
North Bakersfield
32 |
Orosi
31 |
| Orange Cove
32 |
Lindcove
31 |
Lindcove Hillside
Af |
Sanger River Bottom
29 |
| Root Creek
30 |
Venice Hill
32 |
Rosedale
Af |
Jasmine
32 |
| Arvin
Af |
Lamont
Af |
Plainview
32 |
Mettler
33 |
| Edison
Af |
Maricopa
32 |
Holland Creek
32 |
Tivy Valley
Af |
| Kite Road South
32 |
Kite Road North
Af |
AF=Above Freezing
Next report: December 15