Author: John Hibler

July 17, 2021 Strong upper level high pressure centered near the Four Corners region is expanding westward into California.  The freezing level over Oakland, according to the latest balloon sounding, was near 16,400 feet and it continues to rise.  Winds at Travis AFB in the Delta are southwest at just 10 MPH, meaning the marine…

Thank you once again for your patience.  John has been receiving some very powerful chemotherapy and it knocks him on his butt.  After his next round on July 28, the oncologist will be scheduling another scan to see how the tumor is progressing.  If it’s responding as hoped, we’ll stay the course.  However, if there…

July 8, 2021 On this day in 1905, the high temperature at Fresno reached 115 degrees, a record that stands to this day.  The historic high in Bakersfield, by the way, is 117.  I don’t anticipate readings of that caliber.  Nevertheless, it will be extremely hot with the heat wave peaking Sunday and Monday when…

We apologize for the shortened report this morning.  It’s chemo day number  2 for John and his appointment is early.  Thank you so much for your understanding and support.     July 7, 2021 Upper level high pressure, as expected, is slowly retrograding towards the west and is centered over southern Utah this morning.  the…

  July 6, 2021 The center of upper level  high pressure this morning remains over the Four Corners region with California flanked along the western rim of the high.  The main heat belt is still over southern California and the Desert Southwest.  There is a 4.6 millibar difference in pressure between Salinas and Fresno.  The…

July 5, 2021 The first half of the week will be hot.  The late part of the workweek and well into next week will  be extremely hot.  Through Wednesday, at the surface, there will be a balancing act.  The marine layer is actually fairly deep with a depth of 2,400 feet.  However, pressure along the…

July 3, 2021 A slug of monsoon moisture has worked its way northwestward into central California.  The clockwise flow around the high is moving high level subtropical moisture from old Mexico then northwestward into California.  Isolated thunderstorms will again be the order of the day over the high Sierra the next couple of afternoons.  We…

July 2, 2021 The marine layer at Monterey this morning is 2,500 feet deep, plenty deep enough to affect valley temperatures.  However, the difference in pressure between the coast and the interior is very weak, at best.  The altimeter reading at San Francisco is currently 29.94 inches of mercury while at Vegas 29.83 is the…

July 1, 2021 The first month of metrological summer was a hot one this year.  This info comes as no surprise to anyone.  It was the fourth hottest June on record in Bakersfield, the third hottest at Hanford, and the second hottest at Fresno.  The good news is, temperatures are down anywhere from 4 to…

The steering currents at the upper levels of the atmosphere are very weak.  If anything, there’s a slight north to south component.  Variable cloudiness left over from yesterday’s thunderstorms over the Sierra Nevada cover most of the eastern side of San Joaquin Valley.  Once the daytime heating process fires up, scattered thunderstorms will again erupt…