California, 2001

High Wind in California, August 29, 2001

August 29, 2001 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 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 Aug 29, 8:15 AM PST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 29, 8:15 AM PST, 1 hour 15 minutes before
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
915 AM PDT WED AUG 29 2001

A SHORT-WAVE TROUGH MOVED THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST/NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA OVERNIGHT...WITH THE ASSOCIATED VORTICITY CENTER OVER
NORTHERN NEVADA. IN RESPONSE TO THE PASSEAGE OF THE TROUGH...THE
MARINE LAYER DEEPENED OVERNIGHT...AND WAS 2500 FEET DEEP AT FORT ORD
AT 14Z. ONSHORE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS PEAKED TUESDAY EVENING...
FOR THE MOST PART...WITH SOME MARINE AIR ENTERING THE NORTHERN SAN
JOAQUIN VALLEY OVERNIGHT. 15Z CENTRAL AND SOUTH VALLEY TEMPERATURES
WERE RUNNING A DEGREE BELOW TUESDAY AT THAT TIME...EXCEPT AT
MERCED...WHERE THE MARINE AIR INTRUSION HAS DROPPED TEMPERATURES
DOWN 4 DEGREES.

FORECAST PROBLEM FOR TODAY WILL BE TEMPERATURES AT THE LOWER
ELEVATIONS OF THE NORTH-CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. OBSERVATIONS
FROM THE SAN LUIS RESERVOIR INDICATE SPILLAGE OF MARINE AIR THROUGH
THE PACHECO PASS CONTINUES AT THIS TIME. EXPECT THIS SPILLAGE TO
CONTINUE WITH THE DEEPENING MARINE LAYER. ACCORDINGLY...WILL UPDATE
THE MORNING FORECAST TO LOWER TEMPERATURES AT MERCED...MADERA AND
LOS BANOS BY 4-6 DEGREES.

IN THE MOUNTAINS...THE MID-LEVELS OF THE AIRMASS REMAIN RELATIVELY
DRY TODAY..WITH HIMIDITIES FORECAST TO REMAIN BELOW 40 PERCENT IN
THE 850-700-MB LAYER. HOWEVER...MOUNTAIN RAWS STATIONS REPORTING AN
INCREASE IN HUMIDITIES ABOVE 5000 FEET OVERNIGHT...WHHICH IS
REFLECTED IN THE 13Z AND 14Z RUC RUNS...BUT NOT AS WELL BY THE
LARGER SCALE 12Z MODELS. CURRENT MENTION OF AFTERNOON CLOUDS NEAR
THE CREST LOOKS ON TRACK. FOR THURSDAY...HIGHER MID-LEVEL HUMIDITIES
AND OMEGA ARE FORECAST DURING THE AFTERNOON...SO WILL KEEP SLIGHT
CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS.

POPS FAT BFL 000 YNP 001. SANGER

.HNX...NONE.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Merced

When
August 29, 9:30 AM PST to 5:00 PM PST
Where
Merced County, 5 mi SW of Santa Nella
Reported by
PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates
37.192, -120.718 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Gusty wind across the San Luis Reservoir in Western Merced County reached sustained Lake Wind Advisory criteria by the late morning on the 29th. Some wind at 27 gusting to 32 MPH occurred at 0725 PST ... but sustained wind of 33 MPH with gusts over 40 MPH occurred during the afternoon hours.

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, August 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: 5265871.