February 25, 2023
Temperatures at midday are running 2 to 6 degrees warmer than 24 hours ago. Dew points, however, are extremely low and range in the 20s up and down the valley. There is some cloud cover off shore from a weak trough of low pressure well out to sea which may begin to show up late tonight. It doesn’t appear these clouds will be dense enough, though, to have much impact on a strong radiational cooling event tonight, again sending temperatures well below freezing. More below in the frost discussion.
A trough of low pressure extends from the New England states westward to Wyoming while a weak ridge of high pressure continues to press inland from the eastern Pacific into California. This system will spread variable amounts of mid and high level clouds overhead Saturday and Sunday, but any precipitation will remain from northwest California northward until Thursday or Friday when the high temporarily breaks down. This will allow showers to spread over northern California to roughly a Monterey/Merced line.
The high will rebound behind this system, continuing the dry weather pattern. Models are somewhat in a state of flux for the period of March 9th and 10th. Some show a cold, unsettled pattern while others show the storm track remaining to our north.
Forecast: Mostly clear and cold tonight. Variable cloudiness at times Saturday through Sunday. Mostly clear to occasionally partly cloudy Sunday night through Wednesday. Increasing cloudiness Wednesday night. Variable cloudiness Thursday through Friday.
Short Term:
| Madera 28/65/34/68 | Reedley 28/66/33/69 | Dinuba 27/64/33/67 |
| Porterville 28/66/33/69 | Lindsay 27/65/33/68 | Delano 29/66/34/70 |
| Bakersfield 34/67/40/69 | Taft 38/63/44/65 | Arvin 31/66/36/69 |
| Lamont 30/67/36/70 | Pixley 29/65/34/68 | Tulare 27/64/33/67 |
| Woodlake 28/64/34/67 | Hanford 29/65/35/70 | Orosi 28/64/34/68 |
Wind Discussion: Winds will be generally at or less than 8 mph with periods of near calm conditions, mainly during the night and morning hours, through Monday.
Rain: Expect dry conditions for the next 7 days and possibly longer.
Frost: Temperatures are 3 to 5 degrees warmer than at this time yesterday. If anything, though, dew points are averaging a degree or two lower. There is a large cloud mass off the northern and central California coast which is inching its way eastward. However, the portion of the cloud deck which should arrive late tonight will be too thin to have much impact on the radiational cooling process which will be strong tonight due to the dry air mass in place.
The very coldest unprotected locations will drop down to 25 to 26 tonight with most flatland locations between 27 and 31. Durations at or below 32 will be 6 to 8 hours at the coldest locations and at or below 28 from 1 to 3 hours. The inversion tonight will be good with temperatures at 34 feet generally running from 5 to 8 degrees warmer at most locations. A combination of a modified air mass and at least some cloud cover will keep temperatures Sunday morning generally in the low to mid 30s with above freezing temperatures from Monday on.
Medium range models are still somewhat of a mixed bag. We could see another cold pattern about the tenth of March or so, however there’s too much of a difference between models to get too worked up about it.
Lows Tonight:
| Terra Bella
28 |
Porterville
28 |
Ivanhoe
26 |
Woodlake
29 |
| Strathmore
29 |
McFarland
26 |
Ducor
29 |
Tea Pot Dome
28 |
| Lindsay
26 |
Exeter
27 |
Famoso
28 |
Madera
28 |
| Belridge
27 |
Delano
29 |
North Bakersfield
30 |
Orosi
28 |
| Orange Cove
28 |
Lindcove
27 |
Lindcove Hillside
Af |
Sanger River Bottom
25 |
| Root Creek
28 |
Venice Hill
28 |
Rosedale
29 |
Jasmine
29 |
| Arvin
31 |
Lamont
32 |
Plainview
28 |
Mettler
28 |
| Edison
Af |
Maricopa
28 |
Holland Creek
32 |
Tivy Valley
29 |
| Kite Road South
32 |
Kite Road North
29 |
AF=Above Freezing
Next report: February 26