High Wind — Kern County Desert, California

2020-11-13 · Kern County Desert, California

Event narrative

The Southern California Edison Station in Cache Creek measured a peak wind gust of 62 mph.

Wider weather episode

A low pressure system moved through the Pacific Northwest and northern California on November 13. This system brought some light precipitation to the Sierra Nevada north of Fresno County as several stations in Mariposa County picked up between a tenth and a quarter inch of liquid precipitation and up to two inches of new snowfall was reported over higher elevations in Yosemite National Park. Several stations in the Sierra Nevada and adjacent foothills of Madera County picked up a few hundredths of an inch to a tenth of an inch. Further south and in the San Joaquin Valley, most stations observed only trace amounts of precipitation as the system fizzled out upon reaching central California. However, it did produce strong winds across the mountains and deserts of Kern County between the early afternoon of November 13 and the early morning of November 14 as an area of strong subsidence moved over the area. Several stations in the Kern County Mountains and Deserts measured wind gusts above 45 mph while a few low impact indicator sites measured gusts exceeding 70 mph.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 920655. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.