High Wind — Se Kern Cty Desert, California

2018-04-06 · Se Kern Cty Desert, California

Event narrative

The Mojave Airport AWOS reported a peak wind gust of 59 mph.

Wider weather episode

April 2018 began with high pressure over the region which kept a dry airmass and much warmer than normal temperatures over the area. An upper trough off the Pacific Northwest coast pulled a deep plume of tropical moisture northward and brought periods of moderate to heavy precipitation to the area from the late evening of April 6 through the afternoon of April 7. This system was unusually warm for early April and snow levels were above 11000 feet for most of the duration of this event. Several stations over the higher elevations of the Southern Sierra Nevada measured between 2 and 3 inches of rain which resulted in accelerated snow melt and rapid runoff into the rivers over the higher elevations. River flooding was reported along the Merced River above New Exchequer Dam and several roads in Yosemite National Park were closed as a result. In addition there were reports of minor roadway flooding and rock slides in the Southern Sierra Foothills near Mariposa and over the higher Sierras south of Yosemite Park. Flooding was also reported in the Merced area and near Livingston during the morning of April 7. This storm also produced strong wind gusts over the Kern County Mountains and Deserts with several indicator sites reporting wind gusts above 60 mph.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 739067. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.