Name: High Wind in California, May 20, 2002
Start: 2002-05-20T12:30
End: 2002-05-20T12:30
Location: California

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $25,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 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 20, 8:00 AM PST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 20, 8:00 AM PST, 4 hours 30 minutes before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
900 AM PDT MON MAY 20 2002

COLD CORE UPPER LOW JUST OFF THE NORCAL COAST. THIS LOW WILL BEGIN
TO OPEN UP AND MOVE NE TODAY AND TONIGHT. TROF AXIS WILL MOVE ACROSS
CENTRAL CA LATE THIS AFTERNOON. MORNING OAK SOUNDING QUITE UNSTABLE
WITH AN LI OF -3...CAPE OF 405...K-INDEX 29...AND TOTAL TOTALS AN
IMPRESSIVE 58. A FEW T-STORMS HAVE ALREADY OCCURRED DURING THE
NIGHT...AND SHOULD INCREASE IN COVERAGE AS DAYTIME HEATING
CONTINUES. WET BULB ZERO IS ONLY 5100 FEET...SO EXPECT ANY T-STORMS
TO PRODUCE HAIL. CONVECTION WILL ALSO PRODUCE BURSTS OF VERY HEAVY
SNOW HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SRN SIERRA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVE...SO
WINTER STORM WARNING/ADVISORY ON TRACK. CURRENT FCSTS LOOK GOOD AND
NO UPDATED NEEDED AT THIS TIME.  BINGHAM

.HNX...WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR THE SOUTHERN
       SIERRA NEVADA ABOVE 4500 FEET FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON
    ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR THE TULARE
       COUNTY MOUNTAINS ABOVE 5500 FEET
    ...WIND ADVISORY FOR KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS THIS
       AFTERNOON THROUGH 9:00 PM...

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Kern

When: May 20, 12:30 PM PST
Where: Kern County, Ridgecrest
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 35.343, -118.730 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Very localized wind, likely a gustnado along an outflow boundary, caused minor damage within the city of Ridgecrest on the 20th. Some power lines were downed along with flying debris breaking a police car window. About 1,200 customers went without power in the area at the same time due to the downed lines. The highest wind reported by the China Lake Naval Weapons Test Center about 3 miles away was only 31 knots.

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: 5291632.