1 dense fog, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 Feb 8, 9:15 AM PST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 915 AM PST FRI FEB 8 2002 UPPER TROUGH AXIS MOVING ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN FOLLOWED BY RIDGE AXIS NEAR 130W. COLD FRONT HAS MOVED SOUTH OF THE CWFA WITH HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING INLAND ACROSS NORCAL INTO THE GREAT BASIN. HEALTHY PRESSURE GRADIENTS OF 10MB FROM SFO TO LAS, AND 7MB BFL TO DAG CREATING LOCALLY WINDY CONDITIONS ACROSS THE KERN MOUNTAINS AND DESERT. WV IMAGERY INDICATING SOME SUBSIDENCE OVER THE AREA WITH WAVE CLOUDS VISIBLE ON IR/VIS IMAGERY. UPPER JET IS SHIFTING EAST ACROSS NV THOUGH AND SUBSIDENCE IS FORECAST TO DECREASE RAPIDLY BY 18Z. STRONGEST WINDS SHOULD OCCUR THIS MORNING AND WITH UPPER SUPPORT BECOMING LESS THAN IDEAL, FEEL THE SITUATION CAN BE HANDLED WITH SHORT TERM FORECASTS. OTHER NEAR TERM CONCERN DEALS WITH LOW CLOUDS OVER THE SOUTH END OF THE VALLEY AND ADJACENT FOOTHILLS. LOW OVERCAST COVERING JUST ABOUT ALL OF KERN COUNTY SOUTH VALLEY AREA AT THE MOMENT. HIGH RESOLUTION MODELS SUGGEST LOW CLOUDS WILL HANG OVER THE EAST SIDE AND SOUTH END OF THE VALLEY THROUGH MOST OF THE DAY, TYPICAL THIS TIME OF YEAR WITH THESE TYPE OF GRADIENTS AND A LITTLE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE. PATCHY DENSE FOG AND SOME DRIZZLE LIKELY ALONG THE NORTH AND WEST SLOPES OF THE KERN MOUNTAINS THIS MORNING AS WELL. LOW CLOUDS WILL MAKE TEMP FORECAST FOR TODAY TRICKY. STRONG UPPER RIDGE TO BUILD OVER THE WEST COAST THIS WEEKEND WHILE A HIGH BUILDS INTO THE GREAT BASIN. SUBSIDENCE AND OFFSHORE GRADIENTS WILL DRY THE AIRMASS ALLOWING FOR COOLER NIGHTTIME MINS WHILE DAYTIME HIGHS REMAIN QUITE PLEASANT. WILL PROBABLY SEE A RETURN OF SOME PATCHY DENSE FOG IN THE VALLEY TOO. OFFSHORE GRADIENTS MAY BECOME A PROBLEM ACROSS THE DESERT, OTHERWISE IT LOOKS LIKE A FAIRLY QUIET WEEKEND. OVERALL, CURRENT FORECAST IN GOOD SHAPE. WILL MAKE A FEW MINOR UPDATES THIS MORNING. .HNX...NONE. LINDQUIST
1 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.
Another multiple-vehicle accident caused by dense fog occurred on Highway 58 about 20 miles east-southeast of Bakersfield on the northwest slopes of the Tehachapi Mountains. About 40 vehicles were involved in 3 close proximity accident events starting at 10:30 AM PST.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2002
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: 5287192.