December 21, 2023
Summary: the following are rainfall amounts over the valley floor during the last 72 hours…Bakersfield .29, Belridge .33, Delano .36, Edison .24, matter .09, Exeter .87, Visalia .80, Porterville .56, Hanford .89, Lemoore 1.06, Dinuba .97, Reedley .60. Fresno .54, clovis .65 Madera 1.01, and Merced 1.29.
As you can see, the valley has received its first good soaking of the rainfall season. Areas of showers continue to rotate from south to north across the valley. The center of circulation of the upper low is approximately 200 miles southwest of Santa Barbara. The storm will continue to move southward along the southern California coast then will shift eastward over northern Baja Friday and Friday night. the rain will finally come to an end from north to south, ending from Fresno County north tonight and in kern county Friday morning. upper level high pressure will build in from the west Friday through Monday. with a wet ground and a warm air inversion building overhead this weekend, fog may become widespread Saturday and each morning through next week the next chance of rain will arrive about Thursday of next week as a trough of low pressure moves through the Pacific northwest and roughly the northern half of California.
Forecast; periods of showers today. A chance of showers tonight. A chance of showers Thursday in kern county, otherwise it will be partly cloudy. Mostly clear to occasionally partly cloudy Saturday through Wednesday. Increasing cloudiness Wednesday night with a chance of showers Thursday
Temperatures
| Madera 63//42/62/40/59 | Reedley 62/42/62/41/59 | Dinuba 62/41/61/40/60 |
| Porterville 64/43/62/40/59 | Lindsay 63/41/62/40/60 | Delano 62/48/61/43/58 |
| Bakersfield 65/49/61/45/58 | Taft 59/50/58/49/50 | Arvin 63/47/62/44/59 |
| Lamont 62/47/62/43/60 | Pixley 63/44/61/42/59 | Tulare 61/41/61/39/59 |
| Woodlak 62/43/62/41/59 | Hanford 63/45/62/42/60 | Orosi 62/42/62/40/59 |
Seven Day Forecast
| Sunday Am fog/pm sun\ 34/59 | Monday Am fog/pm sun 33/60 | Tuesday Am fog/pm sun 34/61 | Wednesday Increasing clouds 37/53 | Thursday Chance of showers 43/65 |
Two Week Outlook: December2 8 through January 3 This model shows a westerly flow across the Pacific and into California. This is typically a mild pattern with above average temperatures. The risk of precipitation is fairly high with this pattern.
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: it appears the bulk of the precipitation is now behind us. Even so, periods of mainly light showers will move from south to north across the valley today then begin to taper off tonight. We’ll leave a chance of showers in Kern County for Friday. The remainder of the valley will finally be rain free. Dry weather will prevail Friday night and on through Wednesday of next week. the next chance of showers will arrive Thursday from a system mainly moving through northern California.
Frost Discussion: All locations will be above freezing through at least Sunday morning. low to mid 30s are possible Monday and Tuesday with a chance of river bottoms falling into the upper 20s. The good news is there is simply nothing out there pointing to an overly cold pattern the rest of the year.
Mid afternoon dew points: Low to mid 30s. Kern: Upper 20s to the lower 30s.
ET for the past seven days: Stratford, .31, Parlier, .34, Arvin .42, Delano .33.
Soil temperatures: Stratford 54, Parlier 53, Arvin 53, Delano 51
Average Temperatures: 54/36, Record Temperatures: 71/23
Heating Degree Days Season. 597 -217 varies widely from location to location. courtesy of the NWS
Precipitation: Seasonal total for Fresno .65, Monthly .44
Precipitation for Bakersfield: Season: .32, Monthly: .T
Average Temperature this Month 51.2+4.8 taken at NWS Hanford.
Water year season is from October 1st through September 30.
Chilling Hours November 1st through February 28: Parlier, 428 Arvin, 343 Belridge, 365 Shafter, 383 Stratford, 381 Delano 399. Courtesy UC Davis
Sunrise, 7:08. Sunset, 4:47 hours of daylight, 9:39
NA=Not available
Yesterday’s Weather:
MCE : Merced AP 153 : 63 / 52 / 0.73 /
MAE : Madera AP 253 : 67 / 50 / 0.69 /
FAT : Fresno AP 333 : 68 / 52 / 0.45 /
HJO : Hanford AP 242 : 65 / 53 / 0.50 /
NLC : Lemoore NAS 234 : 62 / 50 / 0.68 /
BFL : Bakersfield AP 496 : 71 / 51 / 0.24 /
VIS : Visalia AP 292 : 66 / 51 / 0.34 /
PTV : Porterville AP 442 : 68 / 51 / 0.36 /
Rainfall: 24hr seas. % L.Y % S.Ave. 365
STOCKTON 0.36 2.19 61 4.47 125 3.59 13.45
MODESTO 0.37 2.51 85 4.48 151 2.97 12.27
MERCED 0.50 2.01 72 3.77 134 2.81 11.80
MADERA 0.21 0.97 39 2.04 83 2.47 10.79
FRESNO 0.05 0.31 13 3.25 132 2.46 10.99
HANFORD 0.07 0.58 31 2.34 126 1.86 8.13
BAKERSFIELD T 0.32 22 1.10 77 1.43 6.36
BISHOP 0.04 0.32 32 2.15 217 0.99 4.84
DEATH VALLEY NP 0.00 0.01 3 0.03 8 0.37 2.20
SALINAS 0.55 1.76 55 3.77 119 3.18 12.58
PASO ROBLES 1.16 3.93 152 4.34 168 2.58 12.15
SANTA MARIA 1.26 1.94 69 3.27 116 2.82 13.32
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Next report: December 21/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.