1 dust storm, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Hanford, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 12, 7:45 AM PST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 845 AM PDT THU APR 12 2001 COLD UPPER TROUGH CONTS MOVING EAST THIS MORNING WITH LOW AMPLITUDE RIDGE OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC. ALTHOUGH MOST AREAS ARE RELATIVELY CLOUD FREE...WEAK NW FLOW IN LOWER LEVELS HAS RESULTED IN CONSIDERABLE SC BANKED ALONG THE EAST SIDE AND SOUTH END OF THE SJ VALLEY AND ADJACENT MOUNTAINS. MODERATE MID LEVEL FLOW SHOULD AID MIXING THIS MORNING AND COMBINE WITH SURFACE HEATING TO BREAK UP CLOUDINESS BY EARLY AFTERNOON. 12Z UPPER AIR DATA SHOW HEIGHTS HAVE RISEN IN RESPONSE TO EXITING TROUGH...AND FURTHER INCREASES WILL OCCUR TODAY AS RIDGE PUSHES INLAND AND WEAKENS. DESPITE INCREASING HEIGHTS...MINIMAL TEMP CHANGE IS EVIDENT IN LOW LEVEL SOUNDINGS AND INCOMING PROGS INDICATE BULK OF WAA REMAINING ABOVE 600 MB WITH LITTLE CHANGE IN LOW LEVEL THICKNESSES. ALTHOUGH LINGERING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL RESULT IN CU FORMATION THROUGH THE DAY...CLOUDINESS WILL BE MUCH LESS THAN WED AND TEMPS AT MOST LOCATIONS WILL WARM A FEW DEGREES. WILL MONITOR RATE OF CLOUD DISSIPATION FOR POSSIBLE UPDATE LATER THIS MORNING...BUT NO CHANGES TO ZONES ARE ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. .HNX...NONE. JSN
1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.
A dust storm that started in Mongolia and picked up industrial pollution from China spread haze across the west quarter of the United States, including the Interior Central California CWFA. Despite cloudless skies, the high level haze provided an unusual appearance to the sky.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in California, April 2001
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: 5240957.