February 11, 2022
At midday, Visalia and Fresno had reached 70 degrees, Lemoore 72, and Porterville 73. Warmest locations this afternoon probably won’t reach 80, but it will be close. The center of circulation of upper level high pressure is just off the northern California coast. It will shift to a position over the southern San Joaquin Valley by early Saturday morning, nearing Kern County Saturday evening. This will create downslope heating off the Sierra and Kern County mountains, driving readings into the lower 80s in Kern County and locally elsewhere Saturday afternoon. Even though the high won’t be directly overhead Sunday, it will still be exceedingly warm for mid February. A drastic change is on the horizon, however. A cold low now in the Gulf of Alaska will slide southward over the Pacific Northwest Monday. It will be centered near Tahoe Tuesday morning and over Kern County Tuesday afternoon. This will spread light showers over central California, mainly over the mountains, but light showers seem likely on the valley floor, as well. If there are breaks in the overcast, a few isolated springtime thunderstorms cannot be ruled out. The air behind this system will be out of the north so temperatures only in the upper 50s can be expected Tuesday and lower 60s Wednesday. Upper level high pressure over the eastern Pacific will slowly build eastward beginning Wednesday of next week. It will dominate the pattern through the following weekend with a warming trend.
Forecast: Mostly clear through Monday. increasing cloudiness Monday night. An increasing chance of light, scattered showers Tuesday with a chance of isolated thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon. Mostly to partly cloudy Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Clearing Wednesday afternoon. Mostly clear Thursday through Friday.
Short Term:
| Madera 39/79/40/79 | Reedley 38/80/39/80 | Dinuba 38/79/38/79 |
| Porterville 39/82/40/82 | Lindsay 37/80/37/81 | Delano 40/81/41/81 |
| Bakersfield 47/83/48/82 | Taft 54/80/55/79 | Arvin 39/82/41/82 |
| Lamont 39/81/40/81 | Pixley 39/80/40/79 | Tulare 37/78/39/79 |
| Woodlake 37/79/39/79 | Hanford 40/81/41/80 | Orosi 38/79/39/79 |
Wind Discussion: Winds will be generally at or less than 7 MPH with periods of near calm conditions through Monday.
Rain: Expect dry weather through Monday. The chance of light scattered showers will increase Tuesday as a cold upper low from the Gulf of Alaska moves overhead. Rainfall amounts Tuesday will range from nothing up to around .10. Isolated thunderstorms cannot be ruled out so it’s possible isolated locations could record .25 or more along with small hail. Any chance of rain will come to a halt Tuesday night with dry weather the remainder of next week and probably somewhat beyond.
Frost: All locations will be above freezing tonight and each night through Tuesday morning. The air mass associated with a cold low that will move through the valley Tuesday will bring readings down into the low to mid 30s Wednesday through Friday of next week with low, cold spots probably down into the upper 20s. For now, no big freeze is seen, but we’ll certainly tweak these numbers as we go along.
Next report: February 12