January 6, 2023
The amount of rainfall projected by the California/Nevada River Forecast Center is a sight to behold.an additional 8 to 10 inches is forecast from Shaver Lake north with 6 to 8 inches in the Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks Area. Three to four inches are projected for Merced County, Madera County and much of Fresno County with 2 to 3 inches over much of Tulare County, sloping to around 1 to 1.50 inches down in Kern County. We’re in a rare dry period which will last through Saturday, however high clouds are already beginning to increase over the valley well ahead of the next low pressure system. That system is already busy spreading rain over the north coast of California. Rain will spread down the valley Saturday night, continuing on and off through Sunday. This is the first of two back to back systems. This first one is rather weak. However, the second one which will impact the valley Monday and Tuesday I consider to be a full blown winter storm and it will result in locally heavy rain on the valley floor and just plain heavy rain and snow over the southern Sierra Nevada. Models are still trending towards a dry day Wednesday and Wednesday, possibly going into Thursday. There is a chance of rain later Thursday from a weaker system followed by what may be yet another significant event over the weekend.
Forecast: Increasing high clouds tonight with patchy fog after midnight. Increasing lowering clouds Saturday. Rain becoming likely at times Saturday night through Sunday. Rain likely at times Monday through Tuesday evening, possibly locally heavy at times. Showers Tuesday night. Partly cloudy Wednesday through Wednesday night. Increasing cloudiness Thursday with a chance of rain in the afternoon. Showers Thursday night. Mostly cloudy Friday with a chance of showers by evening.
Temperatures:
| Madera 40/58/45/59 | Reedley 38/58/43/59 | Dinuba 37/58/44/58 |
| Porterville 38/58/43/59 | Lindsay 37/58/44/58 | Delano 40/59/45/60 |
| Bakersfield 43/58/47/59 | Taft 42/58/47/58 | Arvin 44/59/45/59 |
| Lamont 42/59/44/60 | Pixley 38/58/44/59 | Tulare 37/57/45/57 |
| Woodlake 38/57/44/57 | Hanford 41/57/46/57 | Orosi 39/57/46/57 |
Wind Discussion: Winds today and tonight will be generally at or less than 10 mph with periods of near calm conditions. Winds Saturday through Sunday will be out of the east to southeast at around 5 to 12 mph. Winds Monday will increase to 10 to 20 mph with stronger gusts from Fresno north.
Rain: The dry weather will last through Saturday. Rain will again spread over the valley Saturday night and Sunday. Amounts will be generally light. Precipitation estimates for Porterville, for example, is .28 with similar projections for other communities. A stronger Pacific storm will head our way Monday, lasting into Tuesday. More than an inch of rain will be possible, especially on the east side north of Kern County. Currently, it appears Wednesday and Wednesday night will be dry with a chance of showers Thursday. Friday may be dry with another possible winter storm next weekend. The new two week model out this afternoon is maintaining an open storm door, so anything out there longer term will have no problem moving through.
Frost: Expect above average conditions.
Lows Tonight:
All locations will be above freezing tonight.
Next report: January 7 morning
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