December 9, 2023
Summary: For the first time in the early fog season, there is extensive fog and low clouds, mainly in Kings and Tulare Counties. Both Hanford and Visalia were down to less than ¼ of a mile visibility at last report. It’s also a frosty morning with temperatures generally in the upper 20s to lower 30s throughout the citrus belt. California sits on the eastern flank of a dome of upper level high pressure located roughly 600 miles off the southern California coast. The freezing level has risen to 12,100 feet, indicating the air aloft continues to warm. With a cap above the valley floor, areas of night and morning fog and low clouds will be the main challenge. The off shore high will strengthen as we head into the middle of next week with a large ridge extending northeastward into the Pacific Northwest. As the high strengthens, daytime temperatures will warm into the mid 60s by mid week, remaining in that range through next weekend. There is still little indication of a pattern that would break down the high and allow Pacific storms to move into California. On paper, we remain dry almost to Christmas. This could change at some point but for now we’ll maintain a dry forecast with continued frost during the later night and morning hours..
Forecast: Areas of night and morning fog and low clouds. Otherwise, it will be mostly clear but hazy through Tuesday. Areas of night and morning low clouds and fog with hazy afternoon sunshine through Saturday.
Temperatures
| Madera 60/30/62/30/62 | Reedley 59/29/61/29/61 | Dinuba 58/28/61/28/60 |
| Porterville 61/28/62/28/62 | Lindsay 60/27/61/27/62 | Delano 61/30/62/29/62 |
| Bakersfield 62/33/63/34/63 | Taft 58/40/58/43/59 | Arvin 61/31/62/31/63 |
| Lamont 61/31/62/31/63 | Pixley 60/29/62/29/62 | Tulare 59/27/61/28/62 |
| Woodlake 59/29/61/29/62 | Hanford 59/30/61/30/62 | Orosi 59/28/60/28/61 |
Seven Day Forecast
| Tuesday AM fog/PM sun 30/62 | Wednesday AM fog/PM sun 31/64 | Thursday AM fog/PM sun 32/65 | Friday AM fog/PM sun 33/67 | Saturday AM fog/PM sun 33/67 |
Two Week Outlook: December 16 through December22 This model indicates the storm track will continue through the Pacific Northwest, clipping northern California from time to time. The chance of rain during this period remains low with above average temperatures.
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.
Wind Discussion: Winds will be generally at or less than 6 mph with periods of near calm conditions through Sunday.
Rain Discussion: Expect dry conditions for at least the next 10 days.
Frost Discussion: Fowler, Exeter, Lindsay, and Porterville were reporting a temperature of 28 degrees as of the time of this writing. Most other locations were between 29 and 32. Fog and low clouds were prevalent over much of Kings and Tulare Counties this morning. However, it’s generally too shallow to interfere with the radiational cooling process. The coldest river bottom type locations on Sunday morning will chill down to 26 to 28 degrees. Most flatland locations will chill down to 28 to 31 with hillsides coming in above freezing. The inversion will be somewhat stronger tonight with temperatures at 34 feet at 5 to 8 degrees warmer. We are now locked into a pattern, as we often are this time of year, where warm air caps the valley in a warm air inversion with mostly clear skies each night. As a result, strong radiational cooling will occur, allowing generally upper 20s and low 30s each night through midweek. Daytime highs next week will slowly warm until it gets to the point where lows respond accordingly with lows moderating into the low to mid 30s after Wednesday. There is one possibility to consider and that’s night and morning fog and low clouds. My feeling is, that because of the lack of soil moisture this year, the fog will have a hard time taking over so for I’ll leave that parameter out of the temperature forecast and see if it attempts to establish a decent foothold in the mornings to come. But at this point, it appears doubtful.
Lows Tonight:
| Terra Bella 29 | Porterville 28 | Ivanhoe 27 | Woodlake 28 |
| Strathmore 28 | McFarland 27 | Ducor 30 | Tea pot dome 29 |
| Lindsay 27 | Exeter 27 | Famoso 29 | Madera 29 |
| Belridge 28 | Delano 30 | North Bakersfield 30 | Orosi 28 |
| Orange cove 29 | Lindcove 27 | Lindcove Hillside af | Sanger river bottom 26 |
| Root creek 27 | Venice hill 29 | Rosedale 29 | Jasmine 29 |
| Arvin 30 | Lamont 30 | Plainview 28 | Mettler 30 |
| Edison 31 | Maricopa 31 | Holland creek 31 | Tivy Valley 28 |
| Kite Road South 31 | Kite Road North 28 |
AF=Above Freezing
Mid afternoon dew points: Low to mid 30s. Kern: Upper 20s to the lower 30s.
ET for the past seven days: Stratford, .47, Parlier, .38, Arvin .44, Delano .40.
Soil temperatures: Stratford 56, Parlier 54, Arvin 55, Delano 52
Average Temperatures: 56/37, Record Temperatures: 70/23
Heating Degree Days Season. 431 -151 widely from location to location. courtesy of the NWS
Precipitation: Seasonal total for Fresno .21, Monthly .00
Precipitation for Bakersfield: Season: .30, Monthly: .00
Average Temperature this Month 51.4 +4.1 taken at NWS Hanford.
Water year season is from October 1st through September 30.
Chilling Hours November 1st through February 28: Parlier, 288 Arvin, 218 Belridge, 234 Shafter, 249 Stratford, 258 Delano 266. Courtesy UC Davis
Sunrise, 7:00. Sunset, 4:43 hours of daylight, 9:44
NA=Not available
Yesterday’s Weather:
MCE : Merced AP 153 : 59 / 33 / 0.00 /
MAE : Madera AP 253 : 58 / 31 / 0.00 /
FAT : Fresno AP 333 : 51 / 36 / 0.00 /
HJO : Hanford AP 242 : 53 / 32 / 0.00 /
NLC : Lemoore NAS 234 : 57 / 29 / 0.00 /
BFL : Bakersfield AP 496 : 54 / 37 / 0.00 /
VIS : Visalia AP 292 : 48 / 31 / 0.00 /
PTV : Porterville AP 442 : 51 / 32 / T /
Rainfall: 24hr seas. % L.Y % S.Ave. 365
STOCKTON 0.00 0.74 28 2.69 101 2.66 13.45
MODESTO 0.00 0.98 46 2.90 137 2.12 12.27
MERCED 0.00 1.01 49 2.52 122 2.07 11.80
MADERA 0.00 0.43 24 1.50 85 1.76 10.79
FRESNO 0.00 0.21 12 2.35 131 1.79 10.99
HANFORD 0.00 0.13 10 1.63 121 1.35 8.13
BAKERSFIELD 0.00 0.32 32 0.90 89 1.01 6.36
BISHOP 0.00 0.25 32 0.65 84 0.77 4.84
DEATH VALLEY NP 0.00 0.01 4 0.02 7 0.28 2.20
SALINAS 0.00 0.70 30 2.38 100 2.37 12.58
PASO ROBLES 0.00 1.76 96 2.72 148 1.84 12.15
SANTA MARIA 0.00 0.35 17 2.04 99 2.07 13.32
Next report: December 9/pm
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