High Wind and Winter Weather in California, May 20 to 21, 2002

Name: High Wind and Winter Weather in California, May 20 to 21, 2002
Start: 2002-05-20T03:00
End: 2002-05-21T03:00
Location: California

May 20 to 21, 2002 · NWS HNX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

A late Spring frontal passage brought 14" of new snow to Giant Forest in the Tulare County Mountains on the 20th and windy conditions to the Kern County Mountains and Desert areas. In the Kern Mountains Indian Wells Canyon reported wind gusts to 46 MPH in the early evening of the 20th; and winds of 45 MPH at Inyokern Airport and 50 MPH at Government Peak in the Kern Desert.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
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.

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 19, 8:05 PM PST, 6 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 19, 8:05 PM PST, 6 hours 55 minutes before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
905 PM PDT SUN MAY 19 2002

RATHER COMPLEX WEATHER PATTERN OVER THE AREA THIS EVENING TO SAY THE
LEAST. LARGE AND COLD UPPER CONTINUES TO VERY SLOWLY MOVE SOUTHEAST
FROM 40/130W, WHILE VERY STRONG JET SCREAMS INTO CENTRAL AND
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. STRONG SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT EARLIER THIS
AFTERNOON COMBINED WITH THE JET AND DRY SOILS TO PRODUCE WIDESPREAD
BLOWING DUST IN THE SOUTHERN SJV, AND WINDIER CONDITIONS OVER THE
KERN DESERTS. THE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT IS RELAXING SOMEWHAT
AND WITH SUNDOWN THE WINDS ARE SUBSIDING IN THE DESERTS. EXPECT A
SIMILAR SCENARIO LATER THIS EVENING OVER THE SJV. AS FOR
PRECIPITATION, KHNX SHOWS THE EARLIER CONVECTION OVER THE SIERRA HAS
ENDED, AND THE BIG CHALLENGE IS WHEN WILL IT START UP AGAIN? WITH
THE VERY STRONG LOW MOVING EVER SO CLOSER TO THE COAST, THE JET
OVERHEAD AND EVEN THE MARINE LAYER NOW PUSHED INTO THE SAN JOAQUIN
VALLEY ON THE STRONG WINDS, IT WOULD SEEM THAT BY LATER TONIGHT,
PRECIPITATION SHOULD GET GOING OVER THE NORTH. CURRENT FORECAST HAS
THE TREND HANDLED WELL AND WILL OPT TO NOT GET FANCY WITH THE
DETAILS AND TAKE A WAIT AND SEE APPROACH. AS FOR UPDATES, WILL NEED
TO UPDATE FOR WINDS IN MANY ZONES, BUT WILL OPT TO LEAVE OUT THE
DUST ADVISORY IN KERN COUNTY AS PARTS OF THE AREA ARE STILL SEEING
REDUCED VISIBILITY.

MONDAY STILL LOOKS POTENTIALLY INTERESTING AS THE LATEST MODELS STILL
BRING QPF, INSTABILITY AND THE THREAT OF THUNDER FOR ESPECIALLY THE
NORTH. OVER THE SIERRA, LATEST MODEL QPF PROGS SUGGEST WINTER
STORM WARNING CRITERIA MAY BE REACHED MONDAY/MONDAY NIGHT AND THE
WATCH SEEMS FINE. THATS ALL FOR NOW.

.HNX...WINTER STORM WATCH MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT FOR THE SOUTHERN
       SIERRA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON.

DUDLEY

Event by event

3 high wind, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Tulare Cty Mtns

When: May 20, 3:00 AM PST to May 21, 3:00 AM PST
Where: Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Se Kern Cty Desert

When: May 20, 1:08 PM PST to 3:00 PM PST
Where: Se Kern Cty Desert forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Indian Wells Vly

When: May 20, 1:12 PM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Indian Wells Vly forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Kern Cty Mtns

When: May 20, 5:13 PM PST to 8:00 PM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.
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

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: 5291626, 5291629, 5291628, 5291627.