February 20, 2024
Summary: in case you were wondering where the latest battleground of precipitation is occurring, try Orange and LA Counties where the latest atmospheric river is moving on shore. Even though the weather has been relatively quiet in the valley today, that will change during the late afternoon through the evening hours as a secondary cold front has developed off shore. Satellite imagery shows this image of disturbed weather intensifying somewhat. The parent low to all this is located off the central Oregon coast. It continues to move slowly northward, parallel to the coast. On Wednesday, the back side of the trough of low pressure will finally slide east of the Sierra Nevada, bringing this long lived cycle to an end. Weak high pressure both at the surface and aloft, will begin to build inland over California Wednesday night and will dominate our weather at least through Saturday. Models move the next Pacific low to a position off the northern California coast Saturday. Models show this system remaining off shore at it moves parallel up the coast. It appears any precipitation from this system will wait until Sunday if not Monday. by Tuesday of next week, a stronger high will build over the west coast, leading us into a dry pattern for at least a few days.
Forecast: Periods of showers and a chance of isolated thunderstorms tonight. A chance of showers Wednesday, mainly in the morning. partly cloudy Wednesday night through Saturday night. a slight chance of showers Sunday through Monday. partly cloudy Monday night and Tuesday.
Short Term:
| Madera 48/64/42/65 | Reedley 49/65/43/66 | Dinuba 47/63/42/65 |
| Porterville 49/63/44/64 | Lindsay 47/62/43/64 | Delano 49/64/43/66 |
| Bakersfield 50/62/47/64 | Taft 51/60/47/62 | Arvin 50/65/44/65 |
| Lamont 51/63/46/65 | Pixley 47/63/42/65 | Tulare 46/62/42/64 |
| Woodlake 46/63/42/64 | Hanford 47/65/43/66 | Orosi 44/64/43/65 |
Winds: Winds will be mainly out of the southeast today at 5 to 12 mph. Stronger gusts can be expected in the vicinity of showers. From Wednesday night through Saturday winds will be generally at or less than 10 mph with periods of near calm conditions.
Rain: The lull in the showers this afternoon is a bit deceiving. Water vapor satellite imagery is showing the development of a secondary cold front off shore. This area will move over the valley during the late afternoon and overnight hours. An isolated thunderstorm or two would not be a surprise. The back side of all this will finally shift east of central California by late in the day Wednesday. We’ll keep a chance of showers in the forecast for Wednesday, mainly during the morning hours with a lesser chance as the afternoon hours progress.. expect dry weather Wednesday night through Saturday night. we’ll keep a slight chance of showers in the forecast for Sunday through Monday. Realistically, however, it appears this system will hang too far off shore to spread precipitation inland. For now, Tuesday through Friday appear dry as we enjoy upper level high pressure.
Frost: Expect above freezing conditions for at least the next 7 to 10 days.