Heavy Rain, Madera
- When
- December 8, 10:00 PM PST to December 11, 8:00 AM PST
- Where
- Madera County, 7 mi NW of Oakhurst
- Coordinates
- 37.218, -119.763 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain in California, December 8 to 11, 1996
A broad trof immediately along the California Coast supported significant rain event for the San Joaquin Valley and adjacent Southern Sierra Nevada. Small streams ran high and while not quite meeting flash flooding criteria posed a serious risk to Mariposa County cleanup crews working in and around Burns Creek.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS HNX wrote it up.
A broad trof immediately along the California Coast supported significant rain event for the San Joaquin Valley and adjacent Southern Sierra Nevada. Small streams ran high and while not quite meeting flash flooding criteria posed a serious risk to Mariposa County cleanup crews working in and around Burns Creek. Storm total amounts from late on the 8th through early on 11th ... rain near 7 inches in the 2-3K foot elevation of adjacent Madera County. Central San Joaquin Valley storm total rain amounts were over 2 inches along the east side ... near 1 inch on the west side. In the Lake Isabella area of Kern County almost 3 inches of rain occurred from the storm.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Heavy Rain
- Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Cold in South Dakota, December 8, 1996
- Coastal Flood in New Jersey, December 8, 1996
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, December 8, 1996
- Winter Storm in New York, December 8, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Ohio, December 8 to 9, 1996
- Heavy Snow in North Carolina, December 8 to 9, 1996
- Winter Storm in Connecticut, December 8, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, December 8 to 9, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, December 8, 1996
- Heavy Snow in North Carolina, December 8, 1996
- High Wind in Wyoming, December 8, 1996
- Coastal Flood in Delaware, December 8, 1996
More
Every storm in California in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5578425.