Strong Wind — Indian Wells Vly, California

2017-10-20 · Indian Wells Vly, California

Event narrative

Social media and online newspapers reports showed the roof of a mobile home and a car port were blown off in Ridgecrest. There were also social media reports of trees uprooted and sheds blown over. The ASOS at the China Lake NWTC measured a peak wind gust of 46 mph around the time of the wind damage.

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front pushed south through central California on October 20 producing the only significant precipitation event across the area for the entire month. Ahead of the front, strong winds developed over the San Joaquin Valley and the Kern County Mountains and Deserts during the late evening hours on October 19th and continued through the morning hours of the 20th. In addition, this system brought widespread precipitation to the area although rainfall amounts were generally light. A few locations in Yosemite National Park received over half an inch of rainfall and several locations in the southern Sierra Nevada and southern Sierra foothills picked up between a quarter and a half inch of rain. Several locations in the central San Joaquin Valley measured between a tenth and a quarter inch of rainfall while much of the south San Joaquin Valley and the Kern County Mountains measured up to a tenth of an inch of rain. Snow was reported as low as 6000 feet in the southern Sierra Nevada, but snowfall amounts were light and local accumulations of up to 3 inches were reported at higher elevations.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 720902. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.