Author: John Hibler

April 12, 2018 Summary: A fast moving cold front spread only light scattered showers down the valley overnight.  The front has already moved into southern California.  Behind the front is a strong northwesterly jet stream aloft which is being lifted by the Tehachapi Mountains, creating upslope cloud cover in Kern County with light rain being…

April 11, 2018 Summary: A major weather change is well underway this afternoon.  A cold low pressure system is just off the coast of the Pacific Northwest with the associated cold front moving south/southwest off the northern and central California coast.  The air behind the system is cold, especially by recent standards, and will result…

April 11, 2018 Summary: A southerly surface flow combined with strong upper level high pressure drove temperatures into the low to mid 90s in the south valley yesterday afternoon.  Bakersfield hit 94, which was the hottest temperature I could find.  Today will be a horse of a different color as a strong on shore flow…

April 10, 2018 Summary: Upper level high pressure is still over central and southern California even though it is moving eastward.  The freezing level overnight at VAFB was 13,300 feet, indicating plenty of warm air aloft.  To our north, a low pressure system is moving into the Pacific Northwest and will drag a dry cold…

April 9, 2018 Summary: Temperatures this  morning are running anywhere from 5 to 10 degrees higher than 24 hours ago.  High pressure at the upper levels of the atmosphere is moving in from the eastern Pacific ahead of a weak frontal system several hundred miles off shore.  The combination of warming air aloft and a…

April 7, 2018 Summary: Current radar, as of the time of this writing, was showing significant precipitation along the Sierra Nevada with a large rain shadow on the lee side of the Coast Range.  That rain shadow extends into portions of the east valley and has really zapped precipitation amounts throughout the region.  Just to…

April 6, 2018 Summary: The atmospheric river of air we’ve been discussing has arrived over northern California where widespread precipitation is occurring from roughly Monterey and Merced Counties northward.  Precipitation will slowly spread south along the Sierra Nevada today as a 130 knot jet stream moves from west to east across central California, causing big…

  April 5, 2018 Summary: Clouds are already increasing over central California ahead of what will become a possibly historic event for this late in the season.  Currently, a powerful low is located about 700 miles west of the Washington state coast with a huge atmospheric river of air flanked underneath.  This will slam northern…

April 4, 2018 Summary: A considerable amount of high clouds are overrunning a weak ridge of high pressure.  This will continue through Thursday.  The air aloft remains quite warm for this early in the season with the freezing level at 11,500 feet.  Satellite imagery over the Pacific Ocean is quite telling.  An intensifying low pressure…

April 3, 2018 Summary: High pressure, mainly at the upper levels of the atmosphere, is reestablishing itself over the eastern Pacific and the west coast.  Well above average temperatures and generally clear skies will continue through Wednesday night.  Mid and high level clouds will begin to show up Thursday and Thursday night then will rapidly…