December 12, 2017
Summary: today is pretty much a carbon copy of yesterday with most locations moving into the low to mid 60s and dew points remaining in the mid to upper 30s. Strong upper level high pressure remains over northern California but will begin to slip off shore Wednesday and Thursday. This by no means will allow storms to get anywhere near California through at least Tuesday. Models are suggesting a least a chance of rain exists for Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. That doesn’t look nearly as possible now as low pressure will zip through the northern Rockies and into the Midwest while upper level high pressure begins to build northwestward into the Pacific Northwest and northern Canada. This will result in a northeast flow aloft into the west, causing cold air to plunge at least into the interior west east of the Sierra Nevada. There is, though, a chance that this air mass will move into California, as well. Adding to this will be a strong off shore surface flow, but what else is new? We’ll monitor this closely over the next few days.
Forecast: Mostly clear and hazy through Tuesday with patchy fog north of Kern County.
Short Term:
| Madera 29/63/29/65 | Reedley 28/64/29/65 | Dinuba 28/63/28/64 | |
| Porterville 29/65/29/65 | Lindsay 27/64/28/65 | Delano 29/65/29/66 | |
| Bakersfield 36/66/37/67 | Arvin 33/68/34/68 | Taft 40/66/41/67 | |
| Lamont 34/66/34/67 | Pixley 28/65/29/65 | Tulare 28/64/28/65 | |
| Woodlake 29/65/29/65 | Hanford 30/65/30/66 | Orosi 28/64/28/65 | |
Winds: Winds will be less than10 MPH with periods of near calm conditions through Friday.
Rain: Expect dry weather for at least the next seven to ten days.
Frost Information: It is indeed a carbon copy of the past few days. Temperatures are right about where they were yesterday at this time with dew points remaining in the mid to upper 30s. Visibility averages 3 miles up and down the valley. Another strong radiational cooling event will take place tonight with coldest locations chilling down to 26 to 27 with most flatland locations ranging from 28 to 32. Most Kern County locations will be in the low to mid 30s.
Really, I don’t anticipate any major changes in the mild afternoon/cold night scenario until at least Monday, possibly Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday, models are doing flip flops, as expected. A couple of models show a strong high over the eastern Pacific building a ridge well north into western Canada. This would cause cold air to plunge down into the interior west along the eastern rim of the high, turning the winds aloft out of the northeast and also creating another off shore flow. We will have to watch this pattern over the next few days to see if any potentially cold air could force its way down the valley, leading to another cold air episode. With the irregularity of modeling information for this time frame, much could change between now and then, but nevertheless it’s a break in the overall pattern. Unfortunately, it’s not a change that would result in precipitation.
The inversion tonight will again be strong with temperatures ranging from 5 to 9 degrees warmer at 34 feet.
Lows Tonight:
| Terra Bella
27 |
Porterville
28 |
Ivanhoe
28 |
Woodlake
29 |
| Strathmore
28 |
McFarland
27 |
Ducor
28 |
Tea Pot Dome
29 |
| Lindsay
27 |
Exeter
27 |
Famoso
29 |
Madera
29 |
| Belridge
28 |
Delano
29 |
North Bakersfield
32 |
Orosi
27 |
| Orange Cove
28 |
Lindcove
26 |
Lindcove hillside
AF |
Sanger River Bottom
25 |
| Root Creek
27 |
Venice Hill
28 |
Rosedale
31 |
Jasmine
29 |
| Arvin
34 |
Lamont
33 |
Plainview
28 |
Mettler
AF |
| Edison
33 |
Maricopa
30 |
Holland Creek
34 |
Tivy Valley
30 |
| Kite Road South
31 |
Kite Road North
29 |
Next Report: Wednesday morning, December 13