High Wind in California, April 27 to 28, 2002

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
900 PM PDT FRI APR 26 2002

RADAR SHOWS SHOWERS CONTINUING OVER THE SIERRA AND FOOTHILLS, WHILE
ONE LAST BAND OF SHOWERS MOVES EAST OVER THE CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN
VALLEY. EXPECT THE MOUNTAIN SHOWERS TO CONTINUE FOR MOST OF THE
NIGHT, WHILE IN THE SJV ALL ACTIVITY SHOULD COME TO AN END. I SAY
SHOULD, SINCE WELL UPSTREAM, SACRAMENTO RADAR SHOWS A BAND OF
SHOWERS APPROACHING STOCKTON. IF THEY HOLD TOGETHER THEY MAY REACH
NORTHERN MERCED COUNTY IN A COUPLE OF HOURS? WELL SEE. DOWN SOUTH,
KERN COUNTY IS RELATIVELY PRECIPITATION FREE ALTHOUGH THE THREAT OF
SHOWERS IN THE TEHACHAPIS REMAINS, ALBEIT SLIGHT. WINDS ARE STILL
BLOWING PRETTY GOOD OVER THE KERN DESERTS WITH MESO NET SITE AT
EDWARDS INDICATING SUSTAINED SPEEDS IN THE 25-30 KT RANGE AND GUSTS
TO OVER 40 KTS. APRS SITES AT CAL CITY, MOJAVE AND ROSAMOND ARE NOT
AS STRONG AND ARE IN THE 10-25 MPH RANGE. WILL OPT TO STICK WITH
THE WINDY WORDING OVERNIGHT HOWEVER AS LATEST FWC NUMBERS FOR WJF
AND EDW INDICATE THE WIND WILL CONTINUE OVERNIGHT. WILL BE UPDATING
MOST ZONES FOR PRECIPITATION WORDING AND/OR WINDS TONIGHT.

IN THE OVERALL PICTURE, SATELITTE IMAGERY SHOWS THE DEPARTING UPPER
LOW HEADING EAST OVER ARIZONA, AS A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE DIGS
DEEPER OVER CALIFORNIA IN RESPONSE TO JET ACTION DIGGING DOWN THE
WEST COAST. UPSTREAM, A WELL DEFINED UPPER LOW IS HEADING SOUTHWARD
DOWN THE WASHINGTON COAST AND THIS WILL BE THE BIG WEATHER FEATURE
FOR LATER THIS WEEKEND AND INTO NEXT WEEK. LOTS OF LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE REMAINS OVER THE AREA AND WITH WINDS ALOFT FROM THE WEST
OR NORTHWEST, EXPECT THE SIERRA AND FOOTHILLS KEEP A THREAT OF
PRECIPITATION AS JET DYNAMICS, MOISTURE AND THE TROUGH COMBINE. BY
SUNDAY, THE UPPER LOW NEAR WASHINGTON IS PROGGED TO MOVE TO A
POSITION WEST OF SAN FRANCISCO BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND REMAIN INTO
MONDAY MORNING. THIS SHOULD ENHANCE THE PRECIPITATION THREAT BY
SUNDAY NIGHT, THUS CURRENT FORECAST SEEMS FINE. WILL NOT MAKE ANY
OTHER CHANGES OTHER THAN THE SHORT TERM.

.HNX...NONE.

DUDLEY