High Wind — Lake Isabella, California

2021-03-20 · Lake Isabella, California

Event narrative

The Bear Peak RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 58 mph.

Wider weather episode

An upper trough moved into the Pacific Northwest and northern California on March 19 and deepened over the region on March 20. This resulted in a warm and moist airmass impacting central California producing widespread preciptiation on March 19 and 20.

Several stations in the Sierra Nevada picked up between 0.75 and 1.50 inches of liquid precipitation which was mainly in the form of rain below 8000 feet before snow levels lowered on March 20 before the precipitation ended. Much of the San Joaquin Valley picked up between 2 and 4 tenths of an inch of rainfall. The mountains and deserts in Kern County generally picked up less precipitation with most mountain locations pickeing up between a tenth and a quarter inch of rainfall and the deserts picking up a tenth of an inch or less. The main impact from this system; however, was post frontal winds in Kern County. Several stations in the Kern County Deserts and in the Tehachapi and Lake Isabella areas measured gusts between 40 and 50 mph. A few low impact indicator sites briefly measured gusts above 57 mph on March 20. The winds diminished during the morning of March 21 as the trough moved east of the area.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 938337. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.