High Wind in California, May 1 to 2, 2001

Name: High Wind in California, May 1 to 2, 2001
Start: 2001-05-01T20:30
End: 2001-05-02T20:00
Location: California

May 1 to 2, 2001 · NWS HNX · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $105,000
Crop damage: $2.0 million
Events: 5

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 strong gradient wind situation began to develop on the 1st and peaked on the 2nd of the month. The highest northwest wind was noted in the Kern County Desert in and around Mojave where wind speed reached 70 Knots late evening on the 1st and early hours on the 2nd. A mobile home was rolled over in Mojave around 9:30 PM PDT on the 1st. Wind in the Indian Wells Valley did not quite meet Wind Warning thresholds early on the 2nd: Indian Wells Canyon had gusts to 45 MPH at 0613 and Inyokern ASOS reported gusts to 38 Knots at 0805 PST. In the Kern Mountains winds also did not quite reach warning thresholds: Tehachapi had 40 Knots by 0812 PST on the 2nd with Jawbone Canyon reaching 54 MPH at 0329 PST. Near dawn on the 2nd a peak wind of 67 MPH was measured at Kettleman Hills on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Navy Lemoore reported a peak gust of 37 knots (43 MPH) at 0455 PST on the 2nd. From the Fresno County Ag Commissioner, West Fresno County cotton, almonds, pistachios, tomatoes, and cantalope sustained damage due to the wind. Wind damage was also reported in Los Banos along with other occurrences of downed power lines around Coalinga and broken tree limbs in several other locations on the San Joaquin Valley floor.

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 May 1, 8:20 PM PST, 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 1, 8:20 PM PST, 10 minutes before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
920 PM PDT TUE MAY 1 2001

CENTRAL/SOUTHERN SJ VALLEY WINDS WERE SLOWLY DIMINISHING THIS EVE.
04Z SURFACE GRADS...HOWEVER...REMAIN RATHER TIGHT WITH SFO-LAS
AROUND 15 MB AND SAT PICS SHOWING SUBSIDENCE SPREADING SE TOWARD THE
CWA AS UPPER TROUGH DIGS INTO NV AND JET AXIS SAGS SOUTH. AT THIS
TIME PLAN TO ALLOW CENTRAL/SOUTH VALLEY WAD TO EXPIRE AT 2200 PDT...
HOWEVER CAA AND TIGHT SURFACE GRADS WILL KEEP WINDS UP FOR MUCH OF
THE NIGHT...ESPECIALLY OVER THE KERN MTNS. PROXIMITY OF UPPER JET
AND MAGNITUDE OF SURFACE GRADS WILL KEEP WINDS GUSTY ACROSS THE CWA
WED/WED EVE...AND ADDITONAL WADS MAY BE REQUIRED FOR PORTIONS OF THE
CWA AT THAT TIME.

STRONG N-NWLY FLOW HAS RESULTED IN AN IMPRESSIVE ADVECTION OF DRIER
AIR OVER THE DISTRICT WITH SURFACE DEW POINTS RUNNING OVER 20F BELOW
MONDAY/S READINGS. ALTHOUGH WINDS WILL KEEP LOWER LEVELS MIXED
THROUGH MUCH OF THE NIGHT...PROJECTED MINS SEVERAL DEGREES BELOW
THIS MORNING LOOK VERY GOOD AT THIS TIME.

WILL PREPARE ZONE UPDATE AT 2200 PDT FOR WAD EXPIRATION AND CONTINUE
TO MONITOR KERN MOUNTAINS FOR POSSIBLE ADVISORY ISSUANCE.

.HNX...WIND ADVISORY FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
       UNTIL 10 PM TONIGHT.

JSN

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 1, 3:18 PM PST, 5 hours 12 minutes before

CAZ093>099-021100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
418 PM PDT TUE MAY 1 2001

...LOCALLY WINDY AND COOLER TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...

A LATE SEASON STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST TONIGHT
AND INTO UTAH WEDNESDAY. THIS STORM WILL GENERATE LOCALLY GUSTY
NORTHWEST TO NORTHEAST WINDS IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. THESE WINDS ALSO
WILL BRING COOLER AIR TO THE REGION.

FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AND TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS...NORTHWEST
TO NORTHEAST WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 25 TO 35 MPH TONIGHT AND
WEDNESDAY OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS AND THROUGH FAVORED CANYONS AND
DRAINAGES...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER GUSTS.

FOR THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS...WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE
TO 25 TO 35 MPH TONIGHT WITH LOCAL GUSTS TO 40 MPH. ON
WEDNESDAY...STRONGER NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS MAY OCCUR IN THE
INDIAN WELLS VALLEY...WITH LOCAL GUSTS TO 50 MPH POSSIBLE ALONG U.S.
HIGHWAY 395...AND STATE HIGHWAY 14 BETWEEN RED ROCK CANYON AND
INYOKERN.

WINDS WILL BEGIN TO DIMINISH IN MANY LOCATIONS BY THURSDAY MORNING...
HOWEVER LOCALLY WINDY CONDITIONS COULD PERSIST THROUGH THURSDAY IN
THE INDIAN WELLS VALLEY...AND IN LOCAL CANYONS AND DRAINAGES OF THE
SIERRA NEVADA THAT ARE PRONE TO NORTHEAST WIND GUSTS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR YOUR FAVORITE NEWS SOURCE...
FOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND UPDATES.

SANGER

Event by event

5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Se Kern Cty Desert

When: May 1, 8:30 PM PST to May 2, 8:00 PM PST
Where: Se Kern Cty Desert forecast zone
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph)
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Kern Cty Mtns

When: May 1, 10:55 PM PST to May 2, 8:00 PM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

High Wind, W Central Sj Valley

When: May 2, 4:00 AM PST to 8:00 PM PST
Where: W Central Sj Valley forecast zone
Measured: 57 kt (66 mph)
Property damage: $75,000
Crop damage: $2.0 million
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Sw Sj Valley

When: May 2, 5:09 AM PST to 8:00 PM PST
Where: Sw Sj Valley forecast zone
Measured: 58 kt (67 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Indian Wells Vly

When: May 2, 6:13 AM PST to 8:00 PM PST
Where: Indian Wells Vly 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

Every storm in California in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in California, May 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: 5244060, 5244063, 5244061, 5244062, 5244064.