Blizzard, Kern Cty Mtns
- When
- February 20, 10:00 PM PST to February 21, 4:00 AM PST
- Where
- Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
- Property damage
- $20,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Blizzard and High Wind in California, February 20 to 21, 2000
A 70-knot gust of wind as 12:30 AM on the 21st damaged a glider and felled a 3-foot diameter tree at Mountain Valley Airport. Subsequent reports of roof damage from high wind was also received from the California City area in the Kern County Desert.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $60,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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 70-knot gust of wind as 12:30 AM on the 21st damaged a glider and felled a 3-foot diameter tree at Mountain Valley Airport. Subsequent reports of roof damage from high wind was also received from the California City area in the Kern County Desert. These wind reports were in conjunction with snowfall reported overnight in the Kern County Mountains at and above the 4000 foot elevation. Frazier Park received 5 inches of new snow with 2.19 inches of precipitation total. There were several road closures in and leading out of the Tehachapi Valley due to snow accumulations. Winter Storm type conditons began as early as 5 PM and ended by 945 AM on the 21st.
Event by event
1 blizzard, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, Se Kern Cty Desert
- When
- February 20, 10:00 PM PST to February 21, 4:00 AM PST
- Where
- Se Kern Cty Desert forecast zone
- Measured
- 70 kt (81 mph)
- Property damage
- $40,000
- Reported by
- FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
What these are
- Blizzard
- Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or more with falling or blowing snow that cuts visibility below a quarter mile for three hours or longer.
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flood in Ohio, February 20 to 22, 2000
- High Wind in California, February 20, 2000
- Flood in Ohio, February 20 to 23, 2000
- Heavy Snow in New York, February 20 to 21, 2000
- Winter Storm in California, February 20 to 21, 2000
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in California, February 20 to 21, 2000
- Blizzard and Extreme Cold in Alaska, February 20 to 26, 2000
- High Surf in California, February 20 to 22, 2000
- Heavy Snow in New York, February 20, 2000
- Heavy Snow in Nevada, February 20 to 21, 2000
- Flood in Kentucky, February 20 to 23, 2000
More
Every storm in California in 2000Every state in 2000This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2000
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5134994, 5134995.