Name: High Wind in California, May 10 to 11, 2002
Start: 2002-05-10T08:53
End: 2002-05-11T18:24
Location: California

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

Jawbone RAWS reported 35 gust to 58 MPH on the morning of the 10th in the Kern Mountains with Indian Wells Canyon having gusts to 57 MPH. In the Kern Desert Government Peak had a gust to 49 MPH with Mojave Airport sustaining wind of 34 MPH.

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 May 10, 8:40 AM PST, 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 10, 8:40 AM PST, 13 minutes before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
940 AM PDT FRI MAY 10 2002

SATELLITE LOOPS SHOW THE MAIN TROUGH MOVING INTO CALIFORNIA AT THIS
TIME. THR 12Z MODELS ARE IN AGREEMENT WITH THE TROUGH AXIS MOVING
OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA THIS AFTERNOON...AND EAST OF THE HANFORD
WARNIN/FORECAST AREA BY 12Z SATURDAY.

SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS ARE FAIRLY TIGHT...WITH SAN FRANCISCO-LAS
VEGAS AT 13.8 MB...AND LOS ANGELES-TONOPAH AT 8.7 MB. THE 12Z ETA
FORECASTS THE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN TEHACHAPI AND
INYOKERN TO INCREASE TO 4 MB BY 00Z SATURDAY...THEN BEGIN TO RELAX
THIS EVENING. HOWEVER...THE AVN AND NGM HAVE ONLY HALF AS STRONG A
GRADIENT. WIND IN THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS THIS MORNING ARE RUNNING
BELOW ADVISORY THRESHOLDS...BUT WILL PICK UP THIS AFTERNOON AS THE
TROUGH AXIS MOVES THROUGH. THE 12Z MESO-ETA CROSS-SECTION ALONG THE
SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA CONTINUES TO SHOW STRONG LOW-LEVEL SUBSIDENCE
OVER THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS...WITH -12 MICROBARS/SECOND AT 850 MB
NEAR THE TEHACHAPI PASS. AVN-BASED MAV NUMERICAL GUIDANCE FORECASTS
26-KT SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS AT EDWARDS AFB AND CHINA LAKE THIS
AFTERNOON...SO EXPECT SIGNIFICANTLY STRONGER WIND SPEEDS NEAR THE
PASSES. THEREFORE...WILL NOT TAKE DOWN THE HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE
KERN COUNTY MOUNBTAINS/DESERTS AT THIS TIME.

ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...WINDS ARE ALREADY
GUSTING TO 31 MPH...SO THE CURRENT WIND ADVISORY LIKELY WILL VERIFY
THIS AFTERNOON AS WELL.

NO CHANGES TO THE FORECAST AT THIS TIME.

POPS FAT BFL YNP 000. SANGER

.HNX...HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 9:00 PM FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS
       AND DESERTS.
    ...WIND ADVISORY TODAY FOR THE WEST SIDE OF THE SAN JOAQUIN
       VALLEY.

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Kern Cty Mtns

When: May 10, 8:53 AM PST to 7:56 PM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Se Kern Cty Desert

When: May 10, 12:48 PM PST to May 11, 6:24 PM PST
Where: Se Kern Cty Desert forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Indian Wells Vly

When: May 10, 10:13 PM PST to May 11, 12:13 AM PST
Where: Indian Wells Vly 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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in California, May 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: 5291050, 5291618, 5291617.