Weather in the Central California Interior in 2007
The following is account of significant weather by month that I have observed or worked through in 2007.
January 2007 - 2007 began with high pressure over California, and a foggy morning across the valley with clear skies elsewhere. The fog broke up late in the afternoon. The fog broke up much earlier on the 2nd, and was patchy on the third as high clouds moved in. The first storm of the year flew right on through on the 4th and brought around a tenth of an inch of rain to the valley and some snow to the mountains. A warning was needed north of Kings Canyon and even the Tehachapis picked some some light accumulations. This was followed by a cold and blustery day on the 5th with highs in the valley only reaching the 40s. On the 8th a patch of dense fog formed right over Hanford and it took me over 30 minutes to commute that morning. An arctic cold front came through on the morning of the 12th and brought several days of record low temperatures with lows in the valley frequently in the teens and close to all time lows under a prolonged period of clear skies. This prolonged cold spell caused $709 million in crop damages in the area. Lows were below the freezing mark every day in the valley until the 27th when a much needed winter storm hit the area and brought a quarter to half an inch to most of the valley and healthy snows to the higher mountains. Post frontal showers then tapered off on the 28th and the remainder of the month was dry with a return to high pressure, and fog was prevalent for the first time in three weeks on the last three days of the month. Temperatures averaged much below normal for January as was precipitation since we were under an arctic airmass for almost three weeks.
February 2007 - High pressure kept the area dry with near seasonable temperatures for the first four days of February. This allowed me to complete most of my required training for the period. A pesky moisture flux boundary on the third brought some localized dense fog which made my morning commute a long one. Temperatures continued to warm on the 5th and 6th with highs reaching the 70s across the valley on the 6th after a morning of dense fog near the office making my commute another one to forget about. A weak storm moved by to our north on the 7th. I down played it on a television interview and only went with chances of precipitation. Our northern neighbors actually wanted to warn on this storm for the mountains three days in advance and we held off. The mountains did bring a tenth of wan inch of rain to northern areas and an inch or two of snow to the higher mountains. Our southern areas remained dry so my forecast turned out to be good. A much stronger storm hit on the 10th and 11th bringing half an inch to an inch to much of the valley and a foot to two feet of snow to the higher mountains north of Kings Canyon and up to a foot further south. The storm took it's time to move east of the area and kept a cold and moist cyclonic flow aloft. The models preformed poorly the next two days and missed the convective activity the following two evenings. As it turned out HPC ignored making necessary model corrections for our area since there was a dangerous widespread ice storm over the Mid-Atlantic which kept them occupied. One television station actually issued an illicit thunderstorm warning for Bakersfield on the 12th although my shift used NOW's as it did not produce more than ice pellets and some brief locally heavy rainfall. That would have got the attention of headquarters had they not been tied up with the big ice storm in their area. Even more showers occurred on the 13th before drier air moved in for Valentines Day. On the 18th a storm which moved by to our south brought some wrap around moisture and some light precipitation over our southern areas. By that time my biggest concern was a potentially dangerous storm on the 22nd when I had an evening shift. The storm was forecast to bring half an inch to an inch of precipitation to the valley and heavy snows to the mountains. Only half of that was picked up as the storm ended up splitting, but thunderstorms broke out behind the cold front and soon after I came in on the 22nd I was put on the radar and warned for a cell just south of the office. This was the first severe thunderstorm warning issued by the office in almost seven months, and the cell did produce large hail southwest of Visalia. The winter storm warning barely verified; however, with much of the area still lagging in precipitation. Another anticipated "big storm" by our northern neighbors on the 26th and 27th turned out to verify a little better as we received the anticipated amounts. My role during the storm was helping out with two large office tours. The higher mountains picked up 2 to 3 feet of snow while the snow level actually dropped to 1000 feet by the time the storm ended. A quarter to half an inch of rainfall were common in the valley which brought precipitation totals to near normal for the month and temperatures were also close to normal. The office began a workload shift this month with re-assigned shift duties since bias corrected model grids have been cutting back on production time and producing better verification. The active weather in February proved that.
March 2007 - As active as February was, March was the opposite. After a chilly first morning of the month, temperatures soared into the 70s across the valley by the 4th with dry high pressure prevailing. A mainly dry cold front crossed on the 7th (nobody picked up more than 0.05) and lowered temperatures closer to normal for three days before an unusual warm spell prevailed between the 11th and 19th with temperatures averaging 10 degrees above normal and reaching the 80s in the valley. The first real storm of the month finally moved through on the area on the 20th, and was mainly in the form of post frontal showers. No winter weather highlights were posted, but five higher elevation sensors picked up snow advisory criteria. The valley generally picked up a tenth to two tenths of an inch of rain. After another warm spell between the 23rd and 26th, another storm crossed the area on the evening of the 26th and morning of the 27th and brought a half to three quarters of an inch of rain to the valley north of Fresno, but generally only a tenth of an inch further south. Gusty winds from post frontal thunderstorms brought some power outages to the valley. Around a foot of snow fell over the higher mountains north of Kings Canyon with winds being the main concern further south which became responsible for numerous power outages over the area. After two chilly days temperatures warmed back to near normal by the 29th and well above for the 30th and 31st. Temperatures averaged much above normal for the month while precipitation was mainly limited to two storms and was much below normal bringing concerns of drought unless the recent wet April trend returns.
April 2007 - In recent years, April has been cool and wet in California. Three of the past six have been more like a return to winter so many were expecting some good rains as the month began. In fact so did some of the models. This did not happen; however, as offshore flow prevailed and the area was unusually warm for several days. The GFS advertised a major storm to hit our area on the 4th which only ended up as some middle and high clouds. Some instability thunderstorms broke out near the Sierra crest on the 5th, but they did not amount to anything. The GFS then advertised another "big storm" to hit on the weekend of the 7th and 8th which brought a slight cooling and some more middle and high clouds. The rain stayed in Oregon however. An even stronger storm was forecasted for the 11th with the GFS forecasting over an inch of rain for the valley and neighboring offices hitting it hard. We got some rain from it, but not much. Yosemite Park picked up between two and three tenths of an inch while the valley had a tenth of an inch or less. The storm did bring much colder temperatures however as temperatures plunged by 10 to 15 degrees. A 150 knot upper jet followed the storm which prompted me to issue a high wind warning for the Kern Mountains and Deserts. The warning verified and several roads in the warned area were closed and several power outages were reported. Friday the 13th lacked significant weather, but had several equipment failures in the office which led to a long weekend of overtime for the electronic technicians when a wet storm finally hit the area with Kern County receiving the bulk of it as a cutoff low didn't move out of the area as planned and picked up a quarter to a half an inch of rainfall and snow prevailing above 6000 feet. Only a few hundredths of an inch fell north of Kern County. A big warmup occurred on the 16th and 17th then a strong cold front blasted through and brought strong winds to the valley on the evening of the 17th. Near record lows in the mid to upper 30s in the valley occurred on the 19th as winds diminished with a cold airmass in place. The GFS forecasted another major storm to hit on the weekend of the 21st and 22nd with heavy precipitation expected. Once again the model performed poorly as the valley north of Kern County picked up a quarter to half an inch while Kern County just picked up a few hundredths this time. The mountains above 6500 feet did pick up some locally heavy snow, but we only had four snotels verify a low end heavy snow warning. The following week was dry with a sharp warming trend with highs in the valley reaching the upper 90s by the 28th and breaking records. The month ended on the warm side and temperatures averaged close to normal which precipitation was generally a bit below normal. The preceding dry months combined with the lack of a wet spring to allow for fire season to being early in some areas as the month ended. It was determined after the month ended that the models over forecasted several storms because of the lack of data from Mexico.
May 2007 - A warm beginning to May on the first of the month followed by a very sharp cold front associated with a storm moving north of our area on the 2nd. The cold front brought strong winds to the Kern Mountains and Deserts and an advisory was put out by myself the day before and once again verified. With strong jet upper support this one just became a no brainer, but precipitation was generally light. One thunderstorm did fire up near our northern border and crossed Lake McClure prompting several NOWs, and some ice pellet showers affected western Madera County. This was of course the system that was responsible for the F5 tornado which destroyed Greensburg Kansas just a few days later, and brought national attention to my co-workers in Dodge City who worked through the event. Another storm moving north of our area brought a few hundredths of an inch of rain on the morning of the 4th. This was followed by strong high pressure which brought a warming trend to the area and kept skies clear. Highs approached 100 in the valley on the 8th and 9th. The lack of action allowed me to place monthly precipitation totals for Hanford online. A storm crossing the Pacific Northwest on the 12th and 13th brought a cold front through the area and temperatures cooled to near normal. Then another ridge with a warmup over the area with the only action being a few showers near the crest on the 15th and 16th. A series of storms moving over the Pacific Northwest between the 18th and 20th kept an onshore flow over the area along with near normal temperatures. I returned from a week of leave on the 22nd in time for a short heatwave with highs well into the 90s in the valley between the 24th and the 26th. This was cooled by marine intrusions, but the month ended on the dry side with seasonal temperatures. May averaged a little warmer than normal and much drier than normal just as much of the year has been.
June 2007 -The month began with four hot days before a strong cold front moved through on the 5th lowering temperatures to well below normal for three days. I issued a wind advisory for seven zones well in advance of the front and went seven for seven. The weather was generally quiet for the remainder of the month and I posted past precipitation totals for several cities in the area online. We did have a major fire in the Tehachapis called the Goldledge which required IMET support and later several spots before it was finally extinguished. Temperatures flirted with the century mark in the valley for much of the period between the 13th and the 19th with a hot and dry ridge overhead. The last third of the month was fairly tranquil with near normal temperatures. The month ended with slightly above normal temperatures again and no precipitation at all outside of some light showers in the Sierras on a few days. The firing of the janitors, and outside the office issues made more headlines than the weather did on June.
July 2007 - July is usually an obnoxious hot month here and it began that way once again. Another hot spell between the 4th and the 9th with highs nearing 110 in the valley on the 5th and the 6th. After a lot of discussion we decided against issuing a heat advisory because of the lack of humidity. The 6th was borderline, but the other days were not even close. Monsoonal moisture finally reached the area on the 10th and a thunderstorm produced dime sized hail in Yosemite Park that afternoon prompting only the second short fused warning of the year. It was the first real rain on the area in over two months, and it even rained at the office for 20 minutes while I was on duty. Marine intrusions kept the valley closer to seasonal for the middle of the month while other areas roasted in the heat. A strong upper low moving into the Pacific Northwest on the 19th brought some upslope clouds to the south end of the valley, but precipitation remained north of our area. On the 22nd monsoonal moisture returned along with another hot airmass as well. On the 23rd light showers affected Kern County and some other spots. Skies then cleared out allowing for highs to near the century mark in the valley and foothills on the 24th and 25th. The remainder of the month was dry and hot with triple digit heat except over the higher mountains. July ended slightly above normal and dry across most areas with the brief thunderstorm event on the 10th being the only exception.
August 2007 - The heat wave that ended July continued through the first four days of August. Some mountain convection occurred on the afternoons on the first and second, but it was capped off afterwards. A cold front blasted through the area on the 5th ending the heat wave and dropping temperatures below normal by the 6th. Temperatures quickly rebounded; however, and by the 14th triple digits returned to some areas. Operationally I didn't get to do much, but I did complete a major project with a student trainee. Another hot spell began on the 21st and lasted through the end of the month although tropical moisture streamed into the area and on the morning of the 26th a thunderstorm sliced through the valley and damaged raisins like an F5 tornado in Texas. Areas not affected by this storm didn't get much rain though. Thunderstorms in the mountains that afternoon prompted a flash flood warning just south of Yosemite Park.. On the 27th I had a lot of complaint calls from angry raisin growers which I forwarded upstairs. Two more flash flood warnings were issued for thunderstorms in the mountains on the 28th. A round of thunderstorms on the 30th in the valley hit the raisin crop even harder than the storm on the 26th, and also knocked out power in some areas. The remains of a mesoscale convective system hit the Kern Deserts on the afternoon of the 31st and produced flash flooding prompting two warnings. The 29th and 31st were hot and humid days across the valley with highs nearing 110 at some locations. August ended slightly warmer than normal and was the third wettest of all time at several locations (although under a tenth of an inch in the valley) continuing the recent trend of summer being warmer and wetter.
September 2007 - The month began with three hot and steamy days over Labor Day Weekend. The office was hit hard by a lack of available staff too and a lot of attention came our way when tornadoes, wind damage and flash flooding hit the Kern Deserts on the 1st. The valley remained hot and precipitation free, and I missed on the excitement since I was on midnights. A cooler and drier airmass pushed in on the 4th and brought clear skies to our area. An unusually cool airmass pushed in on the 13th brought much below normal temperatures to the area through the 17th. On the 20th a low pressure center dropped southward down the coast and brought some light rain and higher elevation snow to the mountains. The low tracked toward the coast on the 22nd and when the valley cleared out in the morning enough surface heating took place for thunderstorms to break out in the afternoon. Not much was going on as my shift ended so I was sent home. Five warnings were issued by the following shift for the valley and foothills. It also provided our area with a tenth to two tenths of an inch of rainfall for most areas although some locations received much more. The early season heavy snow warning for the higher mountains did not verify because snow levels were higher than anticipated. A dry spell with a warming trend followed with temperatures approaching seasonal levels by the 25th. Another dry cold front blasted through on the 28th, and the month ended on the cool side. September ended cooler than normal with near normal precipitation.
October 2007 - The month began with a clear and warm day although some neighboring offices forecasted a big storm which made them look terrible. A warming trend continued for the next two days before a trough moved into the area on the 4th. This system did bring some light precipitation north of Fresno, but just a hundredth of an inch in a few locations. It did bring some strong winds to the Kern Deserts through the morning of the 5th, but damages were minimal. Temperatures dropped to well below normal from the 4th through the 7th as a result of the colder air that was with this system. After a brief warmup, a cold front came through on the 10th and brought some light rainfall to much of the area toward the end of my midnight shift. During my evening shift on the 12th a stronger system moved through and brought some good rainfall to Merced and Mariposa Counties, but less than a quarter of an inch elsewhere. Portions of Fresno lost power, and I covered the event with three sets of NOWs. Conditions remained cool and unsettled through the 22nd with a quick hitting storm on the 16th and 17th bringing some light rain and a dust storm over the Kern Deserts which led to some fatal truck accidents. Another dust storm with high winds hit the Kern Deserts on the 20th with a weaker system which did not bring much in the way of rainfall although the blowing dust did close several roads. I issued two sets of NOWs that day for winds in areas not covered by warnings. A warm and dry spell followed which led to large fires south of our area which led to my office backing up some of our neighbors aviation duties when the San Diego office was evacuated. Moisture from Hurricane Kiko spread over the area on the 26th bringing some light rain to the area (mostly a tenth of an inch or less) then came the event of the year on the 29th. A low pressure system off the coast moved inland. Drier air moved over the area during my midnight shift leading to a sunny morning. Even with a cold pool moving overhead during the day NCEP and SPC forecasters downplayed convective potential for our area. That afternoon widespread severe thunderstorms hit the area. 17 short fused warnings were issued (16 of them between 400 pm and 800 pm). Although the hail and high winds from the storms caused about a million dollars in damage (mostly to cars and crops), there were no fatalities and 12 of the warnings verified. As for snow it remained above 11000 feet with this system. A strong cold front followed which brought temperatures down to near normal for the last two days of the month. October ended slightly cooler than usual with less precipitation than normal except Merced and Mariposa Counties were around normal.
November 2007 - The month began on the dry and mild side. Locally dense fog affected the valley each morning through the 5th, but was gone by 900 am. A few showers hit the area on the evening of the 9th. I issued two sets of NOWs for them. One of the showers sat over Lemoore during a big high school playoff game between the Lemoore Tigers and San Joaquin Memorial which prompted a call from the refs. Otherwise rain was hard to come by. Another system flew through on the 11th brining a tenth of an inch of rain to some spots. The rain was not enough to end fire season and it continued into December for the second straight year since the remainder of the month was free of precipitation. A dry cold front moved through on Thanksgiving (the 22nd) which led to a strong offshore wind event on the morning of the 23rd over the Southern Sierras. That morning had also the first widespread frost over the valley. A week of mostly clear skies after frosty mornings followed. November ended slightly warmer then usual and much drier than usual like most of 2007.
December 2007 - The month began with a weak system moving through on the first which brought a few light showers to the area. This was followed by a dry and mild spell with highs nearing 70 in the valley on then 3rd and 4th. The warm and dry spell finally ended as a powerful winter storm hit on the 6th and brought 1 to 2 feet of snow above 6500 feet and a quarter to half an inch of rain to the valley. Winds up to 7- mph affected the Kern Deserts. This storm also brought an end to the long fire season. Another dry but chilly period followed with nine days of cold morning s followed by dry days. Lows were usually in the 20s in the valley with a northerly flow inhibiting widespread fog. A stronger storm hit on the 18th and 19th bringing 18 to 36 inches of snowfall to the higher Sierras and half an inch to an inch of rain to much of the valley. A pump house failure during the storm led to flooding in Fresno. A weaker storm hit on the 20th brining up to a foot of snow in the higher Sierras and a tenth of an inch of rainfall to the valley. I issued three sets of NOWs as this storm pushed through the area. The remainder of the month was dry with temperatures close to seasonal. A high wind event in the Kern Deserts on the 26th was the result of a moisture starved storm. High pressure returned to the area as the year ended. December has temperatures close to normal with slightly above normal precipitation in most areas, but that was not enough to keep 2007 from being one of the driest years of all time as a result of dominant high pressure during the spring and the fall.
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