High Wind — Mariposa - Madera Lower Sierra, California

2025-02-06 · Mariposa - Madera Lower Sierra, California

Event narrative

The PG&E station at Yosemite Pilot Peak measured a peak wind gust of 72 mph.

Wider weather episode

A low pressure system moved inland out of the Pacific Ocean into central California during the morning of February 6. As a result, widespread precipitation spread across the area during the late morning and early afternoon hours. Much of the Sierra Nevada picked up between 0.75 and 1.50 inches of liquid precipitation with the snow level rising from 6500 feet on the morning of February 6 to around 8000 feet by late afternoon. Several SNOTELs above 8000 feet picked up an estimated 5 to 10 inches of new snowfall. Much of the Sierra Foothills picked up between a half inch and an inch of rainfall while much of the San Joaquin Valley, the West Side Hills north of Kern County as well as the Kern River Valley generally picked up between a quarter and a half inch of rain. Rainfall amounts were generally a tenth of an inch or less in the far south end of the San Joaquin Valley, the Tehachapi Mountains and over the Kern County Desert areas. This system also brought some strong wind gusts to the area with several ridge top stations and stations in the Sierra Nevada measuring gusts exceeding 45 mph while a few stations had gusts above 60 mph.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1226171. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.