California, 2001

High Wind in California, December 2, 2001

December 2, 2001 · NWS HNX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Gusty south wind on the San Joaquin Valley was measured to 50 MPH at the Los Banos RAWS, 30 KTS at the Merced ASOS, and to 48 MPH at the Kettleman RAWS prior to frontal passage (FROPA) on the 2nd. Wind to 30 KTS occurred with FROPA at Merced around 1700 PST as wind switched from south to west (and eventually northwest).

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 south wind on the San Joaquin Valley was measured to 50 MPH at the Los Banos RAWS, 30 KTS at the Merced ASOS, and to 48 MPH at the Kettleman RAWS prior to frontal passage (FROPA) on the 2nd. Wind to 30 KTS occurred with FROPA at Merced around 1700 PST as wind switched from south to west (and eventually northwest).

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 Dec 1, 9:45 PM PST, 9 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 1, 9:45 PM PST, 9 hours 45 minutes before
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
945 PM PST SAT DEC 1 2001

FCST PROB TONITE IS RELATIVELY NARROW BAND OF LIGHT RAIN EXTENDING
FROM THE KERN CO LINE NORTH THRU FRESNO CO. ITS SHOWING VERY LITTLE
MOVEMENT BUT SOME DECREASE IN COVERAGE OCCURRING. PARTS OF VALLEY
ZONES ARE OUT OF THE RAIN...AND WILL PROBABLY REMAIN SO REST OF THE
NITE. KIND OF TUFF TO DRY MERCED OUT...WHILE CATEGORICAL OCCURRING
IN FRESNO. SAME TRUE FOR THE SOUTH VALLEY WITH CATEGORICAL OCCURRING
AT HANFORD AND VISALIA...AND ONLY A FEW SPRINKLES IN KERN CO. AT ANY
RATE...BAROCLINIC ZONE APPEARS TO BE NARROWING WITH TIME...AND WILL
LET POPS RIDE AS THEY ARE. OROGRAPHICS IN THE SRN SIERRA KEEPING
PRECIP GOING MOST AREAS THERE...BUT THIS WILL LIKELY DECREASE SOME
OVERNITE BEFORE NEXT SYSTEM MOVES TO THE COAST SUN MRNG. SE WINDS TO
INCREASE IN THE VALLEY AND FOOTHILLS REST OF THE NITE AS SFC LOW
APPROACHES NORCAL...WITH GUSTIEST WINDS LIKELY MERCED CO SUN. SUN
AFTERNOON...THE UPPER LOW IS FCST TO SLOW ALONG THE CA/OR BORDER...
THEN BEGIN TO DIG SE ON MON AS UPPER RIDGE BUILDS INTO GLFAK.
THICKNESSES FCST TO TUMBLE SOMEWHERE ON THE ORDER OF 150-200 METERS
LATE SUN AND MON MORNING. THIS WILL SEND SNOW LEVELS PLUMMETING TO
2-3K WITH SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE AT OR ABOVE 3K. THIS
INCLUDES THE TEHACHAPIS. ALSO OF CONCERN MON...AS COLD TROF ALOFT
MOVES ACROSS THE REGION...T-STORMS MAY BE POSSIBLE IN MARGINALLY
UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT. 5H TEMPS LOWER TO NEAR -30C...HOWEVER SFC
TEMPS WILL BE RATHER COOL ALSO...SO DESTABILIZATION MAY BE HARD.
ANYWAY...JUST A LITTLE HEADS-UP FOR SPOTTERS.    BINGHAM
FAT 6977 BFL 2777 YNP 9+++

.HNX...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO
       KINGS CANYON TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT.
    ...WINTER STORM WATCH FOR THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS SUNDAY AND
       SUNDAY NIGHT.

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Sw Sj Valley

When
December 2, 7:30 AM PST to 4:00 PM PST
Where
Sw Sj Valley forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, E Central Sj Valley

When
December 2, 8:53 AM PST to 5:30 PM PST
Where
E Central Sj Valley forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, W Central Sj Valley

When
December 2, 3:00 PM PST to 5:30 PM PST
Where
W Central Sj Valley 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, December 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: 5276273, 5276272, 5276271.