A line of strong thunderstorms swept through Central California during the early afternoon hours of Thursday, Jan 29. Small hail occurred with this line to such an extent that 2-3 inches accumulated on the ground.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS HNX wrote it up.
A line of strong thunderstorms swept through Central California during the early afternoon hours of Thursday, Jan 29. Small hail occurred with this line to such an extent that 2-3 inches accumulated on the ground. In fact, some confusion occurred about hail size being one inch when the reference was to the depth of hail on the ground. Hail sizes during the day varied from 1/8- to 1/2-inch in diameter. Reflectivity values depicted by WSR-88D reached 64 dBz. VIL values ranged from 23 for 1/4-inch hail to 28 for 1/2-inch hail on this day. The southern end of the thunderstorm line was Kings County and eastward. The initial thunderstorm line moved into the S.Sierra Foothills around 1400 PST.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Small hail and heavy rain led to numerous intersections and streets being flooded within North-Central Fresno. The small hail piled up 2-3 inches deep thereby plugging drains and contributing to the overall urban flooding problems.
Numerous power outages in the Selma area affected 3400 customers. A lightning strike took out a power pole at 1300 PST.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 1998
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5627632, 5627634.