Wind Advisory 15, NWS Hanford, CA

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
933 PM PDT SAT APR 3 2010

.SYNOPSIS...

FAIR SKIES UNDER A WEAK HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE WILL DOMINATE UNTIL
SUNDAY EVENING. A NEW FRONTAL SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO INVADE MUCH OF
THE AREA WITH WET WEATHER RETURNING BY SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY.

&&

.DISCUSSION...A SHORTWAVE TROF MOVED THRU THE REGION TODAY. THIS
HELD TEMPS DOWN UNDER MOCLDY SKIES...BUT LITTLE IF ANY PRECIP. IT
HAS MOVED BY NOW...AND MAINLY CLEAR SKIES ARE THE RULE. THIS ALONG
WITH DIMINISHING WINDS WILL BRING A COOLER NIGHT ACROSS THE AREA.
UPDATED TO LOWER TEMPS A BIT MOST AREAS.

IT NOW LOOKS LIKE THE BULK OF SUNDAY DAYTIME WILL BE DRY...EXCEPT
FOR SOME LIGHT PRECIP OVER THE SIERRA NEAR YOSEMITE. STILL A RISK
OF SOME SHOWERS IN THE VALLEY AS WELL FROM ABOUT LOS BANOS TO
MERCED...MAYBE AS FAR SOUTH AS MADERA. BUT IT LOOKS LIKE FRESNO
SOUTH WILL REMAIN DRY. LOWERED SUNDAY POPS. MAY NOT BE AS WARM
SUN IN THE SOUTH END AS PREVIOUS EXPECTATIONS...REASONING IS THAT
ARRIVAL OF COOLER AIR TODAY WILL NOT HAVE TIME TO ERODE AWAY SUN.
LOWERED MAX TEMPS JUST A BIT SUN ALL AREAS...BUT ESPECIALLY THE
SOUTH END OF THE VALLEY WHERE LOWER 70S PROBABLY WONT OCCUR.

THE UPPER TROF AND FRONT WILL MOVE THRU LATE SUN NITE/EARLY MON.
NEW GFS HAS FRONT CENTERED ROUGHLY 12Z MON. RAIN AND SNOW AHEAD OF
THE FRONT WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH TO SHOWERS MON MORNING...AND A
FEW SHOWERS CONTINUING INTO THE AFTERNOON. UPGRADED THE WINTER
STORM WATCH TO A WARNING FOR TOMORROW NITE AND MON MORNING. LATEST
QPF TRENDS ON GFS SUGGEST MUCH HIGHER VALUES ACROSS KERN COUNTY
LATE SUN NITE/MON MORNING AS WELL. MID SHIFT MAY NEED TO ISSUE
SOME FORM OF WINTER PRODUCT FOR THAT AREA AS THE SNOW LEVEL DROPS
TO AT OR NEAR PASS LEVELS MON MORNING.

HUGE WARMUP STILL ON TRACK BY MID-WEEK AS STRONGER UPPER LEVEL
LONGWAVE RIDGE BUILDS IN OVER THE WESTERN STATES BY WED. A WEAK TO
MODERATE OFFSHORE FLOW BY WED COULD PUSH THE SFC THERMAL LOW TO
THE COAST. THIS WILL...AT THE VERY LEAST...PUSH TEMPS BACK TO
SEASONAL AVERAGE IF NOT A FEW DEGS ABOVE IN THE INTERIOR OF CA.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 309 PM PDT SAT APR 3 2010/

DISCUSSION...
SOME HIGH CLOUDS CONTINUE TO MOVE OVER THE AREA THIS
AFTERNOON...TEMPS HAVE TRENDED DOWN A FEW DEGREES COMPARED TO 24
HRS AGO...EXCEPT IN THE DESERT ARE UP ABOUT 2 OR 3 DEG WHERE SKIES
HAVE BEEN MOSTLY CLEAR MOST OF THE DAY. EXPECT INCREASING
CLOUDINESS THROUGH THE DAY SUNDAY TO COVER THE ENTIRE AREA AHEAD
OF THE NEXT EPAC STORM SYSTEM.

THIS SYSTEM IS PROGGED TO IMPACT THE AREA SUN AFTERNOON THROUGH
MONDAY AFTERNOON AND IS CURRENTLY CENTERED AT 48N/140W. THE TROUGH
IS EXPECTED TO DIG SOUTH AND LOWER SNOW LEVELS THROUGH THE NIGHT
ON SUNDAY AND INTO MONDAY. BY MONDAY AFTERNOON THE TROUGH IS
EXPECTED TO MOVE EAST OF THE AREA WHEN PRECIPITATION WILL TAPER OFF.
TUESDAY WILL REMAIN COOL DUE TO THE NORTHWEST FLOW BEHIND THE COLD
FRONT THAT WILL PASS OVER DURING MONDAY.

THE NEXT RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE AREA WED
AND THU WHEN TEMPERATURES WILL WARM TO SEVERAL DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL WHICH MEANS WIDESPREAD 70S FOR HIGHS IN THE SJ VALLEY AND
KERN COUNTY DESERT BY WED. THE RIDGE IS FORECASTED TO BREAK DOWN
FRIDAY AS ANOTHER TROUGH APPROACHES THE PAC NW COAST. THE MODELS
ARE IN SOME DISAGREEMENT ON MOVEMENT...DYNAMICS...AND TIMING OF
THIS TROUGH. IT LOOKS LIKE IT COULD AFFECT MAINLY NORTHERN CA IN
TERMS OF DYNAMICS AND PRECIPITATION...LEFT SLIGHT CHANCE POPS IN
THE SIERRA FOR NOW. ALSO TRENDED TEMPS DOWN FOR FRI AND NEXT SAT
SINCE MODELS ARE IN AGREEMENT OF PLACING A LONGWAVE TROUGH OVER
THE AREA.

&&

.AVIATION...
AN UPPER-LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVING THROUGH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA WILL
CAUSE MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AFTER
00Z SUNDAY...ESPECIALLY NORTH OF KINGS CANYON. WINDY CONDITIONS WILL
DEVELOP IN THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS DURING THE LATE
AFTERNOON...WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS WILL BE PROBABLE THROUGH AND
BELOW MOUNTAIN PASSES AFTER 00Z SUNDAY. THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF
RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW FROM SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK...AND FROM FRESNO
COUNTY IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...NORTH AFTER 18Z SUNDAY. OTHERWISE
VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED ELSEWHERE IN THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
INTERIOR THROUGH 00Z MONDAY.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
NONE

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 5 PM SUNDAY TO NOON PDT MONDAY ABOVE
5000 FEET FOR THE CAZ096-097.

&&

PUBLIC...BINGHAM
AVN/FW...DCH
SYNOPSIS...WP

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
946 PM PDT SAT APR 3 2010

CAZ096-097-041200-
SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-
TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
946 PM PDT SAT APR 3 2010

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF
THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS IN EFFECT
FROM 5 PM PDT SUNDAY TO NOON PDT MONDAY ABOVE 5000 FEET. FOR MORE
INFO PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE ISSUED BY
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE HANFORD AT /WWUS46 KHNX/ OR
/SFOWSWHNX/ FOR DETAILS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT OR
UNUSUAL CONDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

PEJ

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
1009 PM PDT SAT APR 3 2010

CAZ089>095-098-099-041300-
WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS-
TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS-KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-
SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
1009 PM PDT SAT APR 3 2010

...WET AND COOL WEATHER RETURNS SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY...

A STORM WILL MOVE INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA SUNDAY NIGHT...THEN BE
EAST OF THE AREA BY MONDAY EVENING. PERIODS OF RAIN WILL DEVELOP
LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...HEAVIEST DURING THE NIGHT AND
EARLY MORNING HOURS. THE RAIN WILL GRADUALLY TAPER OFF TO SHOWERS
BY LATE MORNING OR EARLY AFTERNOON.

LATEST PRECIPITATION FORECASTS CALL FOR A QUARTER TO HALF INCH OF
RAIN IN THE VALLEY...WITH ONE TO TWO INCHES IN THE SIERRA
FOOTHILLS. FARTHER SOUTH...IT NOW LOOKS LIKE MUCH OF KERN COUNTY
COULD SEE SOME DECENT RAIN TOTALS...FROM ABOUT A QUARTER OF AN
INCH IN THE SOUTH END OF THE VALLEY TO A HALF INCH IN THE
TEHACHAPIS. EVEN THE HIGH DESERTS COULD SEE ISOLATED AMOUNTS OF A
THIRD OF AN INCH.

GUSTY WINDS ARE POSSIBLE AHEAD OF AND BEHIND THE COLD FRONT
SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY...ESPECIALLY THROUGH AND BELOW WIND
FAVORED PASSES AND CANYONS OF KERN COUNTY. SOME SNOW IS POSSIBLE
ON THE MOUNTAIN PASSES SOMETIME MONDAY MORNING.

PERSONS PLANNING TRAVEL OVER THE GRAPEVINE OR THROUGH TEHACHAPI
PASS MONDAY MORNING SHOULD KEEP ABREAST OF THE LATEST
FORECASTS...AND ANY WIND OR WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES THAT MAY BE
NECESSARY.

BINGHAM

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD