February 4, 2024
Summary: If it was a football game, today would be the Super Bowl in Kern County. This storm is definitely living up to its potential as far as wind is concerned. Locally hurricane force winds have buffeted part of the county. The following are peak wind gusts recorded today, most from Kern County. Tejon Hills 81 mph, Pampoo Tower 61 mph, Delano 43 mph, east of Oildale 58 mph, Meadows Field 49 mph, San Luis Obispo 66 mph, los Banos 62 mph, extreme western Fresno County 58 mph, near the bottom of the Grapevine…92 mph, and that’s not a typo. Winds are much lighter over the remainder of the valley, generally in the 15 to 30 mph range with stronger gusts. The center of a powerful 980 millibar storm is roughly 100 miles to the west of the Golden Gate at this hour. The surface low will move very slowly towards the north through Tuesday while an atmospheric river of air feeds a 300 mile wide train of moisture over the southern 2/3 of California. Southern California will take a beating from heavy amounts of rain, generally in the 3 ½ to the 71/2 inch range from now through Tuesday. As expected, Kern County, and to a lesser extent the west side of the valley, has been under a rain shadow all day with only light amounts of precipitation. As the surface low moves north over the next 48 hours, the south valley should begin to pick up some significant amounts of rain later Monday through Tuesday. I can’t remember the last time an atmospheric river has remained for so long over a particular piece of real estate. No doubt, this storm will be studied for years to come as a standard for what an intense AR, or pineapple connection, really is. I weather will finally begin to quiet down Wednesday though a weak trough of low pressure will remain along the west coast through Friday for a chance of showers over the mountains with a slight chance over the valley. All systems seem to be go for a dry weekend next weekend and for several days after.
Forecast: Periods of rain through Tuesday, possibly locally heavy at times. Variable cloudiness Wednesday through Sunday with a slight chance of showers Wednesday through Friday.
Short Term:
| Madera 51/62/45/57 | Reedley 50/63/45/55 | Dinuba 51/60/48/56 |
| Porterville 51/63/45/56 | Lindsay 49/62/45/56 | Delano 52/63/48/57 |
| Bakersfield 52/63/49/55 | Taft 49/59/48/53 | Arvin 53/63/48/57 |
| Lamont 52/62/46/57 | Pixley 47/62/45/56 | Tulare 49/61/46/56 |
| Woodlake 49/62/46/56 | Hanford 51/62/48/57 | Orosi 49/61/46/55 |
Winds; For you weather watchers, here’s a stat for you. The altimeter reading in Las Vegas is currently 30.12 while the altimeter reading in San Francisco was 29.38. Believe me, that’s a monumental difference from one location to another in a relatively short distance. It is no wonder hurricane force winds are occurring in portions of both northern and central California. The pressure gradient, as we call it, is almost at its peak and will remain so through this evening. Winds for the remainder of the afternoon and evening, in Kern County, will continue in the 25-45 mph range with stronger gusts. Eighty to ninety mph gusts cannot be ruled out near the base of the Kern County mountains through this evening. Winds by sunrise will have lowered to around 15 to 20 mph. along the east side of the valley, north of Kern County, winds will be mainly outu of the southeast through this evening at 15 to 35 mph with stronger gusts possible. Along the west side, winds will be mainly out of the southeast at 25 to 45 mph with gusts to 55 mph possible, decreasing to 15 to 30 mph after midnight. Winds Monday and Tuesday will generally be in the 8 to 16 mph range with stronger gusts near showers.
Rain: I’m not at all surprised that a strong rain shadow has been evident over Kern County, extending northward into Tulare County where most locations have recorded less than .10. The rain shadow we’ve been under may last through most of the night as much of the rest of California deals with flooding. Periods of rain will continue through Tuesday, heavy at times, north of Kern County. Even though models are showing a drier picture for Wednesday through Friday, we’ll keep a slight chance of showers in the forecast as a weak trough will remain along the coast. Rainfall amounts through Tuesday will generally range between one and two inches north of Kern County and upwards to an inch over the valley portion of Kern County. The weekend looks dry as does the first half of next week.