March 9, 2023 pm
As of noon, precipitation had spread over all of northern California as far south as Merced. A few renegade showers are popping up over parts of Fresno and Kings Counties. Satellite imagery over the eastern Pacific is quite interesting. A mass of moisture laden clouds stretches from the California coast westward all the way into the mid Pacific Ocean. A low center is roughly 300 miles off the Oregon coast with the jet stream flanked underneath that low running from west to east right into north central California. Latest estimates continue to be impressive. High resolution modeling between now and Saturday afternoon come up with a total of 1.96 for Porterville and 2.42 for Fresno. Keep in mind, the entire valley has long surpassed its annual average rainfall amount, so each raindrop that falls, places us that much above our annual rainfall totals. The rain will taper off into showers Saturday. A thunderstorm or two is possible. Late Saturday night through Sunday night will find us between two storms, each of which is loaded with subtropical moisture. Rain will again spread over the valley sometime late Monday afternoon or evening with periods of rain through Wednesday. For now, models for after Wednesday show the water tap being shut off for several days.
Forecast: Rain tonight through Friday night, locally heavy at times. Isolated thunderstorms will also be possible. Showers Saturday, decreasing during the afternoon. A chance of showers Saturday evening, otherwise mostly cloudy. Partly cloudy Sunday through Sunday night. Increasing cloudiness Monday with a chance of rain by late afternoon. Rain at times Monday night through Tuesday night with showers Wednesday. A chance of showers Wednesday night. Partly cloudy Thursday.
Temperatures:
Madera 48/63/53/67 | Reedley 50/64/53/68 | Dinuba 49/63/54/67 |
Porterville 50/65/54/68 | Lindsay 48/64/53/67 | Delano 50/64/54/69 |
Bakersfield 54/65/55/69 | Taft 54/68/56/69 | Arvin 51/66/54/70 |
Lamont 51/65/55/69 | Pixley 49/63/53/67 | Tulare 48/63/53/66 |
Woodlake 49/64/52/67 | Hanford 50/65/54/68 | Orosi 49/64/52/67 |
Wind Discussion: Winds through Friday night will be mostly out of the east to southeast at 10 to 20 mph at times. Gusts to 30 mph are possible from Fresno County north and along the west side. Winds Saturday will be variable to15 mph. winds Saturday night through Sunday will be generally less than 12 mph and variable in nature.
Rain: As of the time of this writing, rain had spread over all of northern California as far south as a Monterey/Merced line. Rain will overspread the valley during the late afternoon and evening hours which will continue through Friday night. Isolated embedded thunderstorms are possible. Showers will continue Saturday, decreasing during the afternoon. We will be between storms Saturday night through Sunday night. Rain will overspread the valley again late Monday afternoon and evening, continuing at times through Tuesday night, breaking off into showers Wednesday. After Wednesday, at least a few days of dry weather are expected. This is a change from earlier projections which had indicated another storm would wallop California, spreading over the valley next weekend. It will be interesting to see if models flip back.
Frost: All locations will be above freezing for at least the next several days.
Next report: March 10 morning
At John Hibler Weather Forecasting, it is our goal to provide the most accurate forecasts available. Weather forecasting, unlike any other business, invites errors. Weather, by nature, is chaotic. It is our goal to be as accurate as humanly possible.