High Wind in California, November 28 to 29, 2001

Name: High Wind in California, November 28 to 29, 2001
Start: 2001-11-28T21:01
End: 2001-11-29T05:41
Location: California

November 28 to 29, 2001 · NWS HNX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Gusty wind affected the West-Central and a significant portion of the East-Central San Joaquin Valley. An unofficial report from Hilmar indicated wind speed at 61 Kts but it could not be confirmed.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 affected the West-Central and a significant portion of the East-Central San Joaquin Valley. An unofficial report from Hilmar indicated wind speed at 61 Kts but it could not be confirmed. Southeast wind nonetheless reached 39 MPH at Merced late on the 28th with speeds to 37 MPH into the early morning hours of the 29th.

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 Nov 28, 8:35 PM PST, 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 28, 8:35 PM PST, 26 minutes before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
835 PM PST WED NOV 28 2001

...ZONES WILL BE UPDATED...

AREAS OF RAIN HAVE ALREADY SPREAD INTO THE CENTRAL CA INTERIOR AS
KMCE (MERCED) ASOS IS INDICATING RAIN. KHNX 88D INDICATING RAIN
SPREADING SOUTHEAST OVER THE CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...SOUTHERN
SIERRAS...AND ADJACENT FOOTHILLS. HAVE ALREADY ISSUED NOWCASTS TO
COVER THIS. NEARBY 00Z RAOBS INDICATING THAT THE PRECIPITATION IS
FALLING AS SNOW BELOW 6500 FEET. WITH PRECIPITATION ALREADY UNDERWAY
WILL UPDATE ZONE PACKAGE TO INCREASE POPS TONIGHT TO CATEGORICAL OVER
THE CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND SIERRA FOOTHILLS AND RAISE POPS TO
HIGH CHANCE TO LIKELY ACROSS THE SOUTH VALLEY AND KERN MOUNTAINS.
WILL ALSO INTRODUCE CHANCE POPS TO THE KERN DESERTS FOR TONIGHT
SINCE THE RAIN IS SPREADING SOUTHEAST FASTER THAN EARLIER
ANTICIPATED. NEARBY PROFILERS INDICATING SIGNIFICANT LOW LEVEL WAA
TAKING PLACE. DONT EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO FALL TOO MUCH FROM CURRENT
VALUES UNTIL SURFACE COLD FRONT CROSSES THE CWFA LATE THURSDAY
MORNING. WILL RAISE TEMPERATURES FOR ALL ZONES FOR TONIGHT IN THE
UPDATED ZONE PACKAGE. 00Z ETA/NGM/MESO ALL HEAVIER ON QPF FOR
TONIGHT AND THURSDAY. WILL INCREASE HIGHER ELEVATION SNOWFALL
AMOUNTS AND PLAN TO UPDATE THE WINTER STORM WARNING FOR ZONES 96 AND
97 TO HIGHLIGHT THIS. HAVE COORDINATED PLANNED UPDATES WITH STO...LOX
AND VEF. PRECIPITATION WILL BECOME SHOWERY THURSDAY AFTERNOON IN POST
FRONTAL CAA. CAPES WILL REMAIN TOO HIGH AND LIS TOO LOW TO MENTION
THUNDER. DIRER AIRMASS PUSHES INTO THE CENTRAL CA INTERIOR THURSDAY
EVENING FOR A RAPID END OF THE PRECIPITATION...UNTIL THE NEXT PACIFIC
STORM REACHES CENTRAL CA SATURDAY NIGHT.

DS

.HNX...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT AND THURSDAY FOR THE SOUTHERN
       SIERRA NEVADA ABOVE 5000 FEET NORTH OF KINGS CANYON.
    ...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT AND THURSDAY FOR THE TULARE
       COUNTY MOUNTAINS ABOVE 6000 FEET.

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, E Central Sj Valley

When: November 28, 9:01 PM PST to November 29, 5:41 AM PST
Where: E Central Sj Valley forecast zone
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO

High Wind, W Central Sj Valley

When: November 28, 10:14 PM PST to November 29, 5:41 AM PST
Where: W Central Sj Valley forecast zone
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO

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, November 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: 5273598, 5273597.