High Wind — Kern County Desert, California

2021-01-25 · Kern County Desert, California

Event narrative

The Southern California Edison station 20W Rosamond measured a peak wind gust of 67 mph.

Wider weather episode

A low pressure system dropped southward along the northern California coast during the morning of January 22 and pushed inland over central California during the afternoon. This system produced light precipitation across much of the area between the afternoon of January 22 and the morning of January 23. This system was followed by a colder system which moved through the area between the evening of January 24 and the afternoon of January 25. While precipitation from the second system was generally light, it was a cold system and brought snow to the Sierra foothills above 1500 feet as well as to portions of the Tehachapi Mountains where the Tejon Pass on Interstate 5 was closed for several hours due to snow and ice. This system also impacted the State Route 58 over the Tehachapi Pass and State Route 168 over the Walker Pass. In addition, this system produced strong winds over the Tehachapi Mountains and the Kern County deserts where several station measured gusts exceeding 55 mph and the Mojave area briefly had gusts exceeding 70 mph. The winds diminished by the evening of January 25 and precipitation tapered off by the morning of Janaury 26 as the storm moved out of the area.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 930401. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.