Flood and Hail in California, March 28 to 31, 1998

Active thunderstorms in the Central San Joaquin Valley caused widespread crop damage to almonds, grapes, stone fruit, and lettuce. While not reaching severe size (3/4"), the hail stacked on the ground up to a couple of inches at sizes just less than 3/4" in diameter. Heavy rain accompanying the convective activity continued to plague and delay ag field operations for cotton planting, cantaloupes, and tomato processing. The damage in Fresno County was estimated at $4.97M starting at Huron on the west side and progressing eastward through Sanger, Reedley, and Kingsburg. Further damage occurred in Tulare County where a band of damage occurred from mostly Visalia toward Exeter. The damage for 1,250 acres of hail-damaged plums was estimated at $5M in Tulare County. Continued rain kept agricultural ground operations to a minimum with almost all application of herbicides, insecticides, and fertilizers conducted by agricultural aircraft in February and March. In Kern County continued above normal rain brought continued small stream flow onto the Southern San Joaquin Valley floor. The loss of access and/or damage to farm land continued to add to the overall spring storm and heavy rain damage assessment to Central Caliornia agriculture. Bakersfield received 2.51" of rain in March compared to normal of approximately 1"...The last week saw 1.5" of that total.