California, 2001

High Wind in California, April 21, 2001

April 21, 2001 · NWS HNX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Gusty wind through the Kern County Mountains and Desert on the 21st of the month: Jawbone Canyon had gusts to 58 MPH at 1100 PST; Indian Wells Canyon 58 MPH at 0715 PST; and Mojave Fire Station reported wind at 40 to 60 MPH through the morning hours.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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.

Gusty wind through the Kern County Mountains and Desert on the 21st of the month: Jawbone Canyon had gusts to 58 MPH at 1100 PST; Indian Wells Canyon 58 MPH at 0715 PST; and Mojave Fire Station reported wind at 40 to 60 MPH through the morning hours.

What forecasters said that day

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 21, 2:20 AM PST, 3 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 21, 2:20 AM PST, 3 hours 40 minutes before
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
320 AM PDT SAT APR 21 2001

UPPER LOW WAS MOVING SSE AROUND 20 KTS ALONG THE CENTRAL COAST THIS
MORNING WITH APPROX 120KT JET MAX DIGGING DOWN BACK SIDE. AREA OF
UPPER DIFLUENCE HAS BEGUN ROTATING OUT OF THE CWA WITH CLOUD TOPS
WARMING AND PRECIP OVER THE SIERRA TAPERING TO SHOWERS.

PROGS ARE ON TRACK SHOWING CIRCULATION CENTER CONTG SSE TO A
POSITION NEAR BFL BY 12Z. THIS WILL REMOVE CWA FROM FAVORABLE UPPER
DYNAMICS WITH LOW-MID LEVEL FLOW BECOMING NW AND DECREASING
OROGRAPHICS OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA. ALTHOUGH COLD POOL SHIFTING
OVERHEAD AND STRONG VORT APPROACHING SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE FA
WILL CONT TO GENERATE INSTABILITY SHOWERS THIS MORNING...BEST
FORCING WILL BE OVER THE KERN MTNS CLOSER TO VORT TRAJECTORY. GIVEN
THE ABOVE...POTENTIAL FOR CONTD WIDESPREAD HEAVY PRECIP OVER THE
SOUTHERN SIERRA HAS DIMINISHED AND WILL CANCEL WSW WITH 4 AM
PACKAGE. HWVR...WILL MAINTAIN ADVISORY FOR KERN MTNS THIS MORNING
WITH APPROACHING DYNAMICS. AN EARLIER EXPIRATION MAY BE WARRANTED...
THOUGH...AS PROGS ARE SIMILAR SHOWING LOW CONTG TOWARD SAN
BERNARDINO COUNTY BY 18Z WITH DVM RAPIDLY OVERSPREADING THE CWA.

INCREASING SUBSIDENCE...TIGHTENING SURFACE P-GRADS...AND UPPER JET
ALIGNED WITH SURFACE FLOW WILL RESULT IN SOME BREEZY TO WINDY
CONDITIONS ACROSS THE CWA TODAY. PORTIONS OF KERN DESERTS WILL HAVE
THE POTENTIAL TO REACH LOW END OF ADVISORY CRITERIA TODAY AND WILL
ISSUE WAD THROUGH EARLY EVE HOURS. WILL ALSO NEED TO MONITOR THE
KERN MOUNTAINS FOR POSSIBLE WAD ISSUANCE UPON WINTER WX ADVISORY
EXPIRATION LATER THIS MORNING.

WARMING AND DRYING WILL OCCUR OVER THE FA TONIGHT/SUN AS LOW
AMPLITUDE RIDGE PUSHES ONSHORE. NW SURFACE FLOW...HOWEVER...WILL
RESULT IN UPSLOPE CLOUDINESS REDEVELOPING OVER THE EAST SIDE/SOUTH
END OF THE SJ VALLEY AND ADJACENT MTNS.

THE WARMING TREND WILL CONT THROUGH MID WEEK AS AN UPPER RIDGE
BUILDS OVER THE WESTERN STATES. ALTHOUGH MEDIUM RANGE PROGS ARE
SIMILAR INDICATING A TROUGH DEEPENING ALONG 135W THURS/FRI...NOTED
DIFFERENCES ARE EVIDENT REGARDING TROUGH/S AMPLITUDE. WILL THEREFORE
KEEP THE EXTENDED DRY THROUGH DAY 7 AT THIS TIME.

.HNX...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS THIS
       MORNING.
    ...WIND ADVISORY FOR THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS UNTIL 600 PM THIS
       EVENING.

JSN

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Indian Wells Vly

When
April 21, 6:00 AM PST to 8:00 AM PST
Where
Indian Wells Vly forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Se Kern Cty Desert

When
April 21, 6:00 AM PST to 5:00 PM PST
Where
Se Kern Cty Desert forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

High Wind, Kern Cty Mtns

When
April 21, 11:00 AM PST to 4:00 PM PST
Where
Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

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

More

Every storm in California in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in California, April 2001

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: 5240971, 5240972, 5240970.