December 7, 2023
Summary: What was left of a cold front moved down the valley overnight. A northwest push of air behind the front is generating upslope clouds against the valley facing slopes of the Kern County mountains. These clouds will continue to regenerate through much of the day for mostly cloudy conditions over Kern County and parts of Kings and Tulare Counties. Partly cloudy conditions will prevail elsewhere. A much cooler air mass will replace the record high temperatures of yesterday. Even cooler air will arrive today and tonight on a northwest flow aloft. Spotty frost will be possible tonight with a string of frost nights beginning Saturday morning. This is discussed in the frost summary below. Upper level high pressure will locate roughly 500 miles off the southern California coast. The high will continue to expand westward and northward and will dominate the weather pattern over California for at least the next week.
Forecast: Mostly cloudy this morning south of Fresno County and partly cloudy elsewhere. Partly cloudy this afternoon in Kern County, mostly clear elsewhere. Partly cloudy in parts of Tulare County tonight with mostly clear skies elsewhere. Mostly clear to occasionally partly cloudy Saturday through Monday with patchy morning fog. Mostly clear to occasionally partly cloudy Monday through Thursday with areas of patchy fog.
Temperatures
| Madera 61//33/56/30/60 | Reedley 62//34/57/30/61 | Dinuba 61/33/56/30/60 |
| Porterville 62/34/57/29/61 | Lindsay 62//33/56/29/61 | Delano 60//34/56///30/61 |
| Bakersfield 59/40//55//34//62 | Taft 58/42/53/36/58 | Arvin 58/38/56//31/61 |
| Lamont 59/37/56/32/61 | Pixley 61/32/55/28//61 | Tulare 60/33/55/28/60 |
| Woodlake 61/32/56/28/61 | Hanford 62/33/56//30/60 | Orosi 61/33//56//28/61 |
Seven Day Forecast
| Sunday Patchy fog/mostly clear 29/62 | Monday Patchy fog/mostly clear 30/63 | Tuesday Patchy fog/mostly clear 31/62 | Wednesday Patchy fog/mostly clear 33/63 | Thursday’ Patchy fog/mostly clear 33/65 |
Two Week Outlook: December 14 through December20 This model continues the trend of above average temperatures. It also favors a better than even chance of picking up some rain during this time frame.
December: This model continues to favor above average temperatures during the month of December. There’s no trend either way for rainfall, so average amounts of precipitation is our forecast.
December, January, February : If this model has any credence, this winter will experience above average temperatures. This model also favors above average rainfall for the next 90 days.
Rain Discussion: Expect dry conditions for at least the next 10 days.
Frost Discussion: It’s typical the first night behind a frontal passage for weather conditions to be somewhat chaotic. Our first challenge will be upslope clouds which may continue to regenerate against the valley facing slopes of the Tehachapi Mountains and the west facing slopes of the Sierra Nevada. The best chance for local frost tonight will be in Merced, Madera, and Fresno Counties which will observe mostly clear skies. It’s possible the coldest locations could dip down to 29 to 30 or so with most flatland locations between 30 and 35. Beginning Saturday morning, all but hillside locations will dip to near to below freezing. The coldest unprotected locations could drop down to 26 to 28 degrees with most flatland locations between 29 and 32. Hillsides Saturday morning will be marginally above freezing. Saturday will be the first in a string of radiational frost nights. Little night by night change can be expected until about Wednesday when slow moderation will begin. Longer range models continue to indicate a general west to northwest flow which will continue to bottle up arctic air masses to our north, maintaining safe conditions.
Lows Tonight:
| Terra Bella af | Porterville af | Ivanhoe 31 | Woodlake 32 |
| Strathmore 32 | mcFarland 31 | Ducor af | Tea Pot Dome 32 |
| Lindsay 31 | Exeter 31 | Famoso af | Madera af |
| Belridge 31 | Delano af | North Bakersfield af | Orosi 32 |
| Orange Cove 32 | Lindcove 31 | Lindcove Hillside af | Sanger River Bottom 30 |
| Root Creek 31 | Venice Hill 32 | Rosedale af | Jasmine 32 |
| Arvin af | Lamont af | Plainview 32 | Mettler af |
| Edison af | Maricopa af | Holland Creek af | Tivy Valley af |
| Kite Road South af | Kite Road North af |
AF=Above Freezing
Mid afternoon dew points: Low to mid 30s. Kern: Upper 20s to the lower 30s.
ET for the past seven days: Stratford, .47, Parlier, .41, Arvin .44, Delano .41.
Soil temperatures: Stratford 56, Parlier 54, Arvin 55, Delano 52
Average Temperatures: 57/37, Record Temperatures: 69/25
Heating Degree Days Season. 402 -144 widely from location to location. courtesy of the NWS
Precipitation: Seasonal total for Fresno .21, Monthly .00
Precipitation for Bakersfield: Season: .30, Monthly: .00
Average Temperature this Month 51.8 +4.3 taken at NWS Hanford.
Water year season is from October 1st through September 30.
Chilling Hours November 1st through February 28: Parlier, 276 Arvin, 207 Belridge, 223 Shafter, 236 Stratford, 247 Delano 258. Courtesy UC Davis
Sunrise, 6:59. Sunset, 4:43 hours of daylight, 9:45
NA=Not available
Yesterday’s Weather:
MCE : Merced 153 : DH1600 / 68 / 37 / 0.00 /
MAE : Madera 253 : DH1600 / 74 / 39 / 0.00 /
FAT : Fresno Airport 333 : DH1600 / 77 / 43 / 0.00 /
HJO : Hanford Airport 242 : DH1600 / 78 / 37 / 0.00 /
NLC : Lemoore Naval AS 234 : DH1600 / 79 / 37 / 0.00 /
BFL : Bakersfield Airport 496 : DH1600 / 80 / 43 / 0.00 /
VIS : Visalia Airport 292 : DH1600 / 78 / 36 / 0.00 /
PTV : Porterville Airport 442 : DH1600 / 81 / 37 / 0.00 /
TFTC1 : Taft 759 : DH1548 / 75 / 48 / 0.00 /
LOSC1 : Los Banos 120 : DH1600 / 66 / 41 / 0.00 /
Rainfall: 24hr seas. % L.Y % S.Ave. 365
STOCKTON 0.00 0.71 30 2.65 112 2.37 13.45
MODESTO 0.00 0.97 52 2.78 149 1.86 12.27
MERCED 0.00 1.00 54 2.52 135 1.86 11.80
MADERA 0.00 0.43 28 1.50 97 1.55 10.79
FRESNO 0.00 0.21 13 2.35 147 1.60 10.99
HANFORD 0.00 0.13 11 1.63 136 1.20 8.13
BAKERSFIELD 0.00 0.32 36 0.82 91 0.90 6.36
BISHOP 0.00 0.25 35 0.62 87 0.71 4.84
DEATH VALLEY NP 0.00 0.01 4 0.02 8 0.25 2.20
SALINAS 0.00 0.70 33 2.22 105 2.11 12.58
PASO ROBLES 0.00 1.76 109 2.50 154 1.62 12.15
SANTA MARIA 0.00 0.35 19 2.03 110 1.85 13.32
Next report: December 7/pm
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.