Category: Forecast

  December 13, 2017 Summary: Strong radiational cooling was evident once again last night with widespread mid to upper 20s in the citrus belts and upper 20s to the mid 30s in Kern County.  Strong upper level high pressure currently is slipping off shore, but will not change the pattern much as the surface low…

December 12, 2017 Summary: today is pretty much a carbon copy of yesterday with most locations moving into the low to mid 60s and dew points remaining in the mid to  upper 30s.  Strong upper level high pressure remains over northern California but will begin to slip off shore Wednesday and Thursday.  This by no…

December 12, 2017 Summary: A strong warm air inversion continues to seal the valley under strong high pressure aloft.  A surface high remains over the Great Basin but has weakened, so the easterly winds over the mountains have dropped off considerably.  Rather than being parked over northern California, the high will begin to back up…

December 11, 2017 Summary: What has become an ongoing theme for central California continues today.  There’s a veil of high clouds based at 20,000 feet and very hazy conditions with most locations reporting a visibility of 3 to 4 miles.  Two high pressure systems remain over the Great Basin while a disorganized cut off low…

December 11, 2017 Summary: There are two high pressure systems, each is centered over the Great Basin.  The first is the high in the upper levels of the atmosphere.  The second is a surface high which is maintaining an easterly flow over central and southern California.  In the meantime, there’s a cut off low centered…

December 10, 2017 Summary: Visible satellite imagery is quite interesting this afternoon.  It shows not only high, thin clouds moving into the southern half of the valley, but these clouds are thin enough to allow you to see the smoke from the Ventura fire moving northward right along the central coast.  From there, it heads…

December 10, 2017 Summary: Temperatures were well down into the mid to upper 20s at several locations as of 6:00am.  Kern County was the exception where most locations were in the low to mid 30s.  the air continues to be quite warm aloft.  To illustrate this, the temperature at Sandberg at an elevation of 4,100…

December 9, 2017 Summary: High, thin clouds off the central and southern California coast are slowly moving northeastward into the southern half of the San Joaquin Valley.  These clouds are most pronounced in Kern County.  They will play a critical role in tonight’s frost forecast, which is summarized below.   Otherwise, a strong upper high…

December 9, 2017 Summary: Same ol’, same ol’ as strong upper level high pressure stays stuck along the west coast, ridging into western Canada.  The surface high over the Great Basin is strengthening, meaning the off shore flow will increase, as well.  This doesn’t bode well for the fires in southern California.  Some of this…

December 8, 2017 Summary: At the risk of sounding repetitious, strong upper level high pressure continues to be centered over northern California with a big ridge northward into western Canada.  Temperatures this afternoon are marginally warmer than yesterday with many locations already in the mid 60s.  dew points remain low, generally in the upper 20s…