High Wind — South End of the Upper Sierra, California

2025-03-02 · South End of the Upper Sierra, California

Event narrative

The Walker Pass RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 70 mph.

Wider weather episode

An upper trough pushed into northern California on March 1 and dropped into central California on March 2 and spread precipitation over the area. This system produced a period of light to moderate precipitation between the early morning of March 2 and the early morning of March 3 with snow above 5000 feet. Several SNOTELs in the higher Sierra Nevada picked up between 6 and 13 inches of estimated snowfall. In addition to the rain and mountain snow, several thunderstorms developed during the afternoon of March 2 producing small hail and localized flooding. This system also produced strong winds in the mountains and deserts of Kern County most noticeably along the Mojave Desert Slopes where there were several reports of gusts exceeding 70 mph behind the cold front on March 3. Most of the San Joaquin Valley and West Side Hills picked up between a tenth of an inch and a quarter inch of rainfall with some locations which were impacted by thunderstorms picking up more. Most of the Sierra foothills and Kern River Valley picked up between a half inch and an inch of rainfall while the Kern County Desert areas generally had only a tenth of an inch or less due to rain shadowing. The precipitation tapered off by the morning of March 3 although the strong winds continued until the evening of March 3.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1230139. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.