High Wind — W Central S.j. Valley, California

2019-03-06 · W Central S.j. Valley, California

Event narrative

The Alcalde RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 64 mph.

Wider weather episode

A strong and very moist upper low pressure system approached the central California coast on March 5. This system pulled up a deep fetch of moisture of sub-tropical origin which pushed into the area during the evening of March 5 then stalled over the southern portion of central California during the morning of March 6 as a strong southwest upper jet was overhead. This resulted in widespread heavy precipitation over Kern County with moderate to locally heavy precipitation further north over an already saturated ground producing widespread flooding, debris flows, rock slides and mud slides across the area. Several roads were closed as a result of the flooding. Thunderstorms broke out during the afternoon producing additional moderate to locally heavy rainfall. Much of the Southern Sierra Nevada picked up between 2 and 4 inches of liquid precipitation with the snow level running between 8000 and 8500 feet for much of the event. Between 1 to 3 inches of rain fell in the adjacent foothills and across the Kern County Mountains. Kelso Creek to the southeast of Lake Isabella filled up that a potential levee breach led to an evacuation of the communities of Weldon Valley Ranchos, Valley Estates and Power Tracts within the town of Kelso Creek. State Route 178 was closed in Kern Canyon for two days due to a rock slide. Much of the San Joaquin Valley and Kern County Deserts picked up between a half inch and an inch of rain while locally heavier amounts fell in the south end of the San Joaquin Valley and across the Indian Wells Valley, and as a result road flooding was widespread in Kern County.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 801258. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.