High Wind — Kern Cty Mtns, California

2018-12-25 · Kern Cty Mtns, California

Event narrative

The Jawbone Canyon RAWS reported a peak wind gust of 73 mph.

Wider weather episode

A low pressure system moved through central California during the evening of December 24 and the morning of December 25. The Christmas Storm produced half and inch to an inch of liquid precipitation across much of the Southern Sierra Nevada while most of the San Joaquin Valley picked up between one and three tenths of and inch of rain while the Tehachapi Mountains picked up between a quarter to half an inch of liquid precipitation. The precipitation fell mainly as snow above 6000 feet, but amounts were generally light. A few stations along the southern Sierra crest picked up between 4 and 6 inches of new snow. This system also produced strong winds on Christmas morning over the Kern County Mountains and deserts where several locations reported gusts exceeding 40 mph while a few low impact indicator sites measured gusts near 70 mph. Finally, as winds diminished behind the system in the San Joaquin Valley, area of dense fog formed toward daybreak near Fresno and Porterville; but the fog dissipated by late morning.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 790658. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.