High Wind — South End of the Upper Sierra, California

2024-11-24 · South End of the Upper Sierra, California

Event narrative

The Bird Springs Pass RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 61 mph.

Wider weather episode

A large upper low pressure system situated off the Pacific Northwest coast pulled a deep moisture plume into central California during the evening of November 22. This moisture surge brought periods of moderate to locally heavy precipitation through the morning of November 23. Much of the higher Sierra Nevada and adjacent foothills picked up between 0.75 and 1.5 inches of liquid precipitation which much of the San Joaquin Valley from Fresno northward picked up between 0.5 and 0.75 inches of rainfall. Precipitation amounts were lower further southward with much of the San Joaquin Valley south of Fresno southward to Delano picked up between 0.1 and 0.5 inches of rainfall and the Sierra Nevada in Tulare County picked up between 0.25 and 0.5 inches of liquid precipitation. Kern County generally picked up less than a tenth of an inch or less of rainfall from this system although it did produce some increased wind gusts at downslope favored locations and a few stations reported gusts exceeding 55 mph.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1217907. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.