Name: High Wind in California, February 9 to 10, 2002
Start: 2002-02-09T20:30
End: 2002-02-10T15:00
Location: California

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $250,000
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.

Downslope, strong southeast wind swept the southern portions of the San Joaquin Valley concurrently with Santa Ana winds buffeting the Los Angeles Basin. In the South Valley, numerous power lines, trees, and fences were downed due to the winds that reached 37 MPH as reported at Meadows Field, Bakersfield, late in the morning of the 10th. Minor damage from the wind was reported as far north as Corcoran in Kings County. At one point there were 6900 customers without power in the South Valley. Blowing dust was also a problem in and around the Arvin/Bakersfield area. With the warming, temperatures climbed to 80 degs F at Arvin and 75F at Bakersfield on the 10th despite this being a winter month.

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 Feb 9, 3:15 PM PST, 5 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 9, 3:15 PM PST, 5 hours 15 minutes before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
315 PM PST SAT FEB 9 2002

ALL LOW LEVEL CLOUDS HAVE CLEARED EXCEPT FOR A FEW LEFT IN THE
MARIPOSA COUNTY FOOTHILLS. AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE ACROSS THE WESTERN
U.S. COAST WILL SHIFT EAST THROUGH SUNDAY. THE UPPER HIGH WILL BE
OVER THE SOUTHWEST U.S. SUNDAY AND MONDAY PROVIDING SUBSIDENCE AND
CLEAR SKIES ACROSS THE AREA. FAVORABLE CONDITIONS FOR THE FORMATION
OF FOG WILL DEVELOP FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS A LOW LEVEL TEMPERATURE
INVERSION SETS UP AS WELL CLEAR SKIES. STRONG WINDS HAVE BEEN
BLOWING IN THE DESERTS AND S CA DUE TO STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT
BETWEEN A STRONG SURFACE HIGH IN THE GREAT BASIN AND LOW PRESSURE
ALONG THE S CA COAST. ETA PROGS THE SURFACE HIGH TO STRENGTHEN TO
1050MB SUNDAY MORNING. SO WINDS COULD BE AS STRONG SUNDAY IN THE
KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS. A SHORT WAVE BEGINS TO MOVE ONSHORE OVER THE
PACIFIC NORTHWEST LATER SUNDAY.  THIS FLATTENS THE RIDGE ALLOWING
A WEAK ZONAL FLOW TO DEVELOP OVER CENTRAL CA. THE ASSOCIATED SURFACE
BOUNDARY STALLS NEAR THE OR/CA BORDER MONDAY. MODELS INDICATE A
SECOND SHORT WAVE WILL MOVE OFF THE N CA/OR COAST WEDNESDAY...
DIGGING SOUTH AND CLOSING OFF OVER CENTRAL CA THURSDAY. SO FOR THE
EXTENDED WILL EXTEND AND LIMIT THE CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE VALLEY
NORTH OF THE KERN COUNTY LINE AND CONTINUE WITH THE CHANCE OF SNOW
OVER THE ENTIRE SIERRA.

MV

.HNX...NONE.

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Sw Sj Valley

When: February 9, 8:30 PM PST to February 10, 3:00 PM PST
Where: Sw Sj Valley forecast zone
Property damage: $75,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

High Wind, Se Sj Valley

When: February 9, 8:30 PM PST to February 10, 3:00 PM PST
Where: Se Sj Valley forecast zone
Property damage: $175,000
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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in California, February 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: 5282375, 5282376.