Strong Wind — Bakersfield, California

2024-01-11 · Bakersfield, California

Event narrative

California Highway Patrol reported branches partially blocking both lanes on SR 178.

Wider weather episode

A cold upper trough moved across central California during the evening of January 10 and the early morning of January 11. This system brought another half inch to an inch of liquid precipitation to the Sierra Nevada and adjacent foothills north of Kings Canyon with many locations picking up 5 to 10 inches of new snow with a few SNOTELs estimating a foot of new snowfall. Areas further south in the Sierra Nevada and much of the Tehachapi Mountains picked up between a quarter and a half inch while much of the San Joaquin Valley received between a tenth and a quarter inch of rainfall. This system also produced a period of strong wind gusts with several stations in the Tehachapi area and the Mojave Deserts slopes measuring gusts exceeding 50 mph and a few low impact indicator sites reporting gusts exceeding 75 mph.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1147367. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.