Flood — Tulare, California

2011-01-03 · near Cinowths Corner, Tulare, California

Event narrative

Four and a half (4.5) million dollars estimated damage to Tulare County roads from December 17th to Jjanuary 2nd storms.

Wider weather episode

The new year (and decade) began with the latest in a series of Pacific storms that stretched back to December 17th, 2010. This storm brought strong, gusty winds to the region, especially to the base of the Grapevine, where gusts up to 89 mph were recorded on January 2nd. Snow fell on both the Grapevine and Tehachapi Pass, closing both routes between the San Joaquin Valley and southern California. Unlike the storms in December, this storm was focused more on Fresno, Kings, and Tulare counties, Fresno recorded 1.51 inch of rain on January 1st-2nd, while Bakersfield only received 0.16 inch. This was a cold storm, with the snow level falling to around 2500 feet. With the San Joaquin Valley floor and the lower foothills saturated from the record rains of the latter half of December, flood watches were posted for the New Year's Day holiday weekend.

As the night of January 1st-2nd progressed, wind gusts to 50 mph were recorded in the far south end of the San Joaquin Valley, at the base of the Grapevine. Over an inch of snow had fallen in Squirrel Valley--at 2700 feet in the hills above Lake Isabella--by 9:45 PM. The winds at the base of the Grapevine continued through the 2nd, with a peak wind of 89 mph recorded during the afternoon. Several roads on the San Joaquin Valley floor flooded due to runoff from locally heavy rains onto the saturated ground. In the Tehachapi Mountains, heavy snow closed Interstate 5 over the Grapevine (a total of 8 inches of snow fell at Lebec), and 52 cars were stuck on Highway 168 in the Southern Sierra Nevada at the 7000 foot level near Kaiser Point. Snow even fell in the Kern County deserts, with Ridgecrest reporting accumulating snow and snow falling at Edwards Air Force Base. The CHP reported numerous vehicles stuck on ice-covered southbound Hwy 395 just south of the junction with Hwy 178 and on northbound Hwy 395 just south of Ridgecrest Boulevard. A trained weather spotter in Ridgecrest measured 4 inches of new snow. The fire department in Mojave measured 4 inches. The fire department in California City measured 7 inches. The fire department in Randsburg measured 5 inches of the white stuff. The CHP reported vehicle stuck in the snow on Garlock Road just east of southbound Hwy 395.

The upper-level low moved south to off Point Conception on January 3rd. This kept a southerly flow over the Tehachapi Mountains, with advisory-level winds continuing at the base of the Grapevine. Although the precipitation had mostly ended, lingering runoff continued to create flooding hazards.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.3300, -119.3200)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 281601. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.