Author: John Hibler

February 4, 2021 Summary: California remains under a northwesterly flow aloft around the eastern side of a massive high pressure system which covers the eastern Pacific and roughly the western ¼ of the US.  Most of the upslope clouds have now dissipated with the exception of a narrow ribbon of clouds along southeastern foothills of…

February 4, 2021 The balloon sounding above Oakland a few hours ago indicated the freezing level has jumped all the way up to near 12,000 feet.  Yesterday at this time, it stood at 5,500.  That is an excellent indication that we are now on the eastern flank of a huge upper high over the eastern…

February 2, 2021 Summary: Temperatures are any where from 8 to 15 degrees cooler than 24 hours ago.  Temperatures as of 1:00pm ranged from 61 at Lemoore, basking in the sunshine, to just 51 degrees at Porterville which is still under a low cloud deck.  Upslope clouds continue to regenerate as a northwesterly flow is…

February 3, 2021 A low overcast covers all of Kern County, most of Kings County, and all of Tulare County this morning.  this is due to upsloping from a northwesterly flow aloft which is lifted by the north facing slopes of the Tehachapi Mountains and the west facing slopes of the southern Sierra Nevada.  The…

February 2, 2021 Summary: What is left of a stalled out frontal system is running from southwest to northeast across northern San Luis Obispo County then through Merced County to the central Sierra Nevada.  Light showers are showing up on Doppler radar as far south as extreme southwest Fresno and Merced Counties.  There is a…

February 2, 2021 As expected the trough of low pressure has split off the northern California coast.  Doppler radar shows a band of light showers stretching from Monterey to Stanislaus County then northeastward into the northern Sierra Nevada.  That is all that remains of a dying cold front which will move through the valley tonight…

February 1, 2021 Summary: The southern branch of the jet stream responsible for the heavy cloud cover earlier today has sagged southward into southern California and northern Baja.  This is allowing for mostly clear skies throughout the valley this afternoon.  A southerly flow moving up the valley, combined with downslope winds off the Tehachapi Mountains,…

February 1, 2021 A rather heavy layer of mid and high level clouds is moving over the southern half of California on the southern branch of the jet stream.  Doppler radar is indicating there are patches of virga falling out of those clouds, which is precipitation falling but evaporating before reaching the ground.  It is…

January 31, 2021 A trough of low pressure extends from off the British Columbia coast southwestward to off the northern California coast.  Light showers are occurring as far south as Ukiah near the coast and Redding inland.   There are two streams of cloud cover moving into California.  The first is associated with the above mentioned…

January 30, 2021 Summary: Temperatures have warmed mostly into the upper 50s as of 1:00pm with dew points in the low to mid 40s.  Satellite imagery displays a streak of cloud cover off the central coast which will move overhead during the nighttime hours.  Even so, there may be enough clear periods of time for…