High Wind — Kern County Desert, California

2021-05-17 · Kern County Desert, California

Event narrative

The Mojave Airport AWOS reported a peak wind gust of 58 mph.

Wider weather episode

A low pressure system moved through the area on May 16. While there was not much moisture associated with this system, some showers and thunderstorms developed over the Sierra Nevada and the Kern County Mountains and Deserts. Amounts were generally light, ranging from a few hundredths of an inch to a quarter inch of liquid precipitation. The precipitation fell as snow above 9000 feet and some high elevations SNOTELS picked up between 1 and 3 inches of new snowfall. The low moved east of our area on May 17, but gusty northwest winds developed behind this system during the afternoon of May 17 until the early morning of May 18 due to an increased onshore pressure gradient. Several stations in the Kern County Mountains and Deserts measured gusts exceeding 40 mph while a few stations reported brief gusts exceeding 55 mph.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 949115. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.