High Wind — Se Kern Cty Desert, California

2018-01-10 · Se Kern Cty Desert, California

Event narrative

The Mojave Airport AWOS reported a peak wind gust of 70 mph.

Wider weather episode

January 2018 began with strong high pressure dominating over Central California. The high broke down by the 4th as a low pressure system pushed through Northern California bringing generally light precipitation to the area although a few locations picked up between a quarter and half an inch of rainfall. A few inches of snow fell above 8000 feet. Another low pressure pushed through Northern California on the morning of January 6 which brought half an inch to an inch of rain to much of Yosemite Park and Mariposa Counties with lesser amounts further south. Snow was mainly confined to elevations above 8000 feet with this system. A strong low pressure system moved southward off the Central California coast then pushed inland across Southern California between the morning of the 8th and the evening of the 9th. This system produced more substantial rainfall across the area with many locations in the Southern Sierra Nevada picking up between an inch and 2 inches of liquid precipitation. Strong southerly flow ahead of the system resulted in warming across the area ahead of the low and snow levels were above 10000 feet on the 8th when most of the precipitation fell. As the low moved closer to the area on the morning of the 9th, strong downslope winds developed in the south end of the San Joaquin Valley and the valley facing slopes of the Kern County Mountains. Winds along interstate 5 frequently gusted above 50 mph and the Grapevine Peak RAWS (which is on an exposed ridge top) gusted up to 94 mph. Areas of street flooding were reported in the Bakersfield area on the morning of the 9th, and some mudslides were produced by heavy rainfall closing roads at the intersection of Cuddy Valley Road and Mil Portero Highway west of Frazier Park and on Redrock Randsburg Road in the Kern County Desert. Colder air pushed into the area on the back side of the low lowering the snow levels to 5000 to 5500 feet where a few inches of snow fell in post-frontal showery precipitation. A few thunderstorms were observed in the south end of the San Joaquin Valley in the unstable airmass. The precipitation had ended by the morning of the 10th as the low moved out of the area. However, upslope low clouds lingered in much of the San Joaquin Valley and the lower foothills of the Southern Sierra Nevada and Kern County Mountains while dense fog slowed down traffic along Interstate 5 in the Grapevine area and along Highway 58 near Tehachapi. Most of the low cloud deck cleared out by the evening of the 10th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 727146. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.