precipitation has spread as far as the north bay counties along the coast and the Sacramento Valley inland. This is in advance of a pacific cold front which is only about 150 miles off the northern California coast. The front will push southeastward through the valley late tonight and Wednesday morning. showers will move into Merced County in the evening hours, spreading southward to Kern County by tonight. Periods of rain will continue Wednesday up until about noon or so. This system is relatively cold and will drop snow levels down to about 3,000 to 4,000 feet, meaning travel will be difficult heading over the Kern County mountains later tonight and Wednesday. The trough will move into southern Nevada and Arizona Thursday for a fairly brief reprieve in the active weather. Some models are now placing the next system as coming in Saturday night or Sunday. This system is even colder than the current storm and could potentially drop snow levels down to 2,000 feet. The air mass behind this storm is quite cold and just might generate a freeze Monday and Tuesday.
Forecast: low overcast for a time this evening. Showers reaching Merced County this evening, spreading southward overnight. Showers Wednesday, mainly before midafternoon. Partly to mostly cloudy Wednesday night. partly cloudy Thursday through Friday night with areas of morning fog. Showers becoming likely late Saturday night through Sunday morning. mostly clear Sunday night through Tuesday with areas of morning fog and cold overnight temperatures.
Short Term:
| Madera 41/55/36/52 | Reedley 42/56/38/54 | Dinuba 41/55/39/55 |
| Porterville 41/55/38/54 | Lindsay 39/55/37/53 | Delano 41/54/39/52 |
| Bakersfield 42/54/42/55 | Taft 48/54/43/49 | Arvin 42/56/41/53 |
| Lamont 42/56/41/55 | Pixley 41/55/37/52 | Tulare 40/54/37/52 |
| Woodlake 40/55/38/52 | Hanford 42/55/40/54 | Orosi 41/54/38/52 |
Winds: Winds will be mainly out of the southeast at 8 to 15 mph with stronger gusts later tonight and Wednesday. Gusts to 25 mph are possible near the base of the Kern County mountains. Winds Wednesday night and Thursday will be mainly out of the northwest at 8 to 15 mph. Winds Thursday night and Friday will be light to near calm.
Rain Showers will spread into Merced County this evening and will spread southward overnight. Showers will continue Wednesday through roughly mid afternoon or so. Quantitative precipitation estimates range from a quarter to a half inch north of Kern County with perhaps a tenth or two over the valley portion of Kern County. Dry weather will return Wednesday evening and continue through Saturday. Showers will spread over the valley again later Saturday into Sunday. It now looks like rainfall totals from this system will be pretty light. Models for next week are suggesting another system will move through around Wednesday.
Frost: All locations will be above 32 degrees through Thursday morning. the air mass behind the current storm is cold enough for possible widespread low to mid 30s Friday and Saturday mornings with a chance of a few locations in the upper 20s. However, if we receive enough upslope clouds or widespread fog and low clouds, readings will generally range in the mid to upper 30s Friday and Saturday. The time frame I’m really concentrating on is Monday through Wednesday of next week. one model places Porterville at 29 Monday and 28 Tuesday while yet another is showing 30 and 33 respectively. Regardless there is a chance of mid to upper 20s Monday and Tuesday mornings, and possibly Wednesday. This air mass does not currently look cold enough for low 20s. for now, it appears a northwesterly flow will be evident behind the weekend storm. It will take an overwater trajectory, or is forecast to, meaning it won’t be as cold. We will continue to concentrate on these events.