Strong Wind — S Sierra Foothills, California

2018-10-15 · S Sierra Foothills, California

Event narrative

California Highway Patrol reported a tree downed and blocking road 222 near Bass Lake. Sustained winds of 43 mph with a peak gusts of 53 mph were reported at the nearby Cascedel Heights Weather Station around 2 hours earlier.

Wider weather episode

A low pressure system moved into southern California on October 13 and moved slowly inland on October 14. While the precipitation with this system mainly stayed to the south of our area, it interacted with an upper ridge that was building into the Pacific Northwest to produce a strong offshore gradient over central California which resulted in a brief period of strong mono-type northeast winds over the Southern Sierra Nevada during the late evening of October 14 and the early morning of October 15. Several dead trees were blown down near North Fork and Bass Lake in Madera County resulting in some brief road closures and some damage to a few structures.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 779478. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.