California, 2002

High Wind in California, April 15, 2002

April 15, 2002 · NWS HNX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

A cold front sweeping through Interior Central California brought High Wind to the Kern Mountains and Deserts and very windy conditions for remaining portions of the area. Just after dawn Mojave Airport Tower reported a gust to 90 knots with other Kern Desert and Mountain locations logging gusts of 80 knots plus.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
$300,000
Events
4

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 cold front sweeping through Interior Central California brought High Wind to the Kern Mountains and Deserts and very windy conditions for remaining portions of the area. Just after dawn Mojave Airport Tower reported a gust to 90 knots with other Kern Desert and Mountain locations logging gusts of 80 knots plus. Even on the San Joaquin Valley floor early in the morning of the 15th wind was consistently northwest and gusty from 32 to 37 knots. Some trees were downed around the San Joaquin Valley in the Porterville and Selma areas. Agricultural loss occurred due to downed trees in orchards and some wind-blown sand damage to crops on the West Side of the Valley.

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 14, 8:15 PM PST, 3 hours 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 14, 8:15 PM PST, 3 hours 52 minutes before
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
915 PM PDT SUN APR 14 2002

VIGOROUS SHORTWAVE OFF THE NORCAL COAST WAS DIGGING SE THIS EVE WITH
WINDS INCREASING AS CAA COMMENCES IN THE CWA. HIGH-RES GUIDANCE
INDICATES IMPRESSIVE TIGHTENING OF MID-UPPER LEVEL GRADS BY 12Z MON
AS VORT APPROACHES THE SRN SAC VALLEY. HAVE THEREFORE EXTENDED WADS
TO INCLUDE HIER ELEVS OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA FOR TONIGHT...AND
INTRODUCED VERY LOW POPS GIVEN STRENGTH OF DYNAMICS AND MESO-ETA
INDICATIONS OF LAYER BECOMING SATURATED AROUND H7.

OTHERWISE...REMAINDER OF ZFP REMAINS ON TRACK AND NO FURTHER UPDATES
ARE REQUIRED AT THIS TIME.

.HNX...WIND ADVISORY TONIGHT FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA ABOVE
       4000 FEET FROM YOSEMITE TO THE KERN COUNTY LINE.
    ...WIND ADVISORY TONIGHT AND MONDAY FOR THE KERN COUNTY
       MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS.

JSN

Event by event

4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, E Central S.J. Valley

When
April 15, 12:07 AM PST to 3:00 PM PST
Where
E Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, W Central S.J. Valley

When
April 15, 1:00 AM PST to 10:00 PM PST
Where
W Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Sw S.J. Valley

When
April 15, 1:30 AM PST to 3:00 PM PST
Where
Sw S.J. Valley forecast zone
Crop damage
$300,000
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Se S.J. Valley

When
April 15, 2:00 AM PST to 3:00 PM PST
Where
Se S.J. 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 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, April 2002

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: 5289752, 5289751, 5289753, 5289754.