March 29, 2023 pm
After a lull in the action, showers will begin to pick up this afternoon. Thunderstorms are already occurring over the Sacramento valley and, as that same cold pool of air moves overhead this afternoon, the chance of thunderstorms will increase over our region, as well. Localized heavy rain and small hail will accompany any of these storms. Composite radar and satellite imagery show the center of the cold core low north of San Francisco. There are several globes of energy rotating around the bottom side of the low. One of these areas is moving over the Coast Range and into the west side of the valley. Models track the low just to our west tonight so active weather will continue through tonight with possibly some lingering showers into Thursday morning, mainly in the south valley. The low will open up into a trough as it moves through southern California Thursday. The storm track will migrate back into the Pacific Northwest Thursday night through Sunday. A weak trough of low pressure will move through central California Monday and Monday night for a chance of light showers, mainly from Fresno County north and over the mountains. During the latter part of next week, the GFS model shows a fairly substantial area of high pressure over the west coast and just off shore. For the first time in weeks, the two week outlook is actually calling for below average precipitation for California.
Forecast: Periods of showers tonight. Thunderstorms are possible later this evening. Lingering showers are possible for a time Thursday morning. Becoming partly cloudy Thursday afternoon through Friday morning. Mostly clear Friday afternoon through Saturday. Partly cloudy Saturday night through Sunday night. Mostly cloudy Monday through Monday night with a minimal chance of light showers, mainly from Fresno County north and near the foothills. Partly cloudy Tuesday and Tuesday night. Becoming mostly clear Wednesday.
Temperatures:
| Madera 38/59/36/64 | Reedley 39/59/36/65 | Dinuba 38/58/35/65 |
| Porterville 41/59/36/65 | Lindsay 40/58/35/64 | Delano 42/58/39/65 |
| Bakersfield 42/58/40/64 | Taft 42/58/40/63 | Arvin 42/58/38/65 |
| Lamont 41/59/38/65 | Pixley 40/58/36/64 | Tulare 38/58/35/64 |
| Woodlake 40/58/36/64 | Hanford 40/59/38/65 | Orosi 39/58/35/65 |
Wind Discussion: Winds tonight will be mainly out of the south to southeast at around 5 to 12 mph. gusts in excess of 20 mph are possible around thunderstorms. Winds Thursday will be mainly out of the northwest at 5 to 12 mph with stronger gusts possible, mainly along the west side. Winds Thursday night through Saturday will be variable to12 mph late mornings and afternoons and at or less than 7 mph nights and mornings.
Rain: As of the time of this writing, showers were moving off the Coast Range and over the western part of the valley. This is one of several batches of energy moving inland which will continue periods of showers tonight. As the daytime heating process continues this afternoon, it may be enough to trigger at least isolated thunderstorms with localized heavy rain and small hail. Lingering showers are possible for a time Thursday morning. Otherwise, Thursday will be a drying out day with dry weather through the weekend. A cold, weak trough of low pressure will push through Monday and Monday night. It will result in at least a minimal chance of light showers north of Fresno County and near the foothills. Models are conflicted for the latter half of next week, ranging a a large area of high pressure controlling the situation to possibly more rain late next week. the two week model indicates below average precipitation for the first time in weeks.
Next report: March 30 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.