California, 2002

High Wind in California, May 9 to 10, 2002

May 9 to 10, 2002 · NWS HNX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Another spring event brought northwest wind speeds reaching close to warning criteria for the latter part of the 9th and much of the 10th. A peak gust of 63 MPH occurred at Jawbone RAWS early in the afternoon of the 10th in the Kern Mountains with speeds generally running from 33 gusting to 46 MPH.

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.

Another spring event brought northwest wind speeds reaching close to warning criteria for the latter part of the 9th and much of the 10th. A peak gust of 63 MPH occurred at Jawbone RAWS early in the afternoon of the 10th in the Kern Mountains with speeds generally running from 33 gusting to 46 MPH. In the Indian Wells Valley winds ran from 30 gusting to 45 MPH. Government Peak in the Mojave Desert had a peak gust of 52 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 9, 8:20 AM PST, 3 hours 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 9, 8:20 AM PST, 3 hours 26 minutes before
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
920 AM PDT THU MAY 9 2002

THE WEATHER PATTERN CONTINUES TO CHANGE AS THE NEXT PACIFIC TROUGH
APPROACHES CALIFORNIA. SATELLITE LOOPS SHOW TWO DISTINCT SHORT-WAVES
EMBEDDED IN THE TROUGH. THE FIRST SHORT-WAVE IS MOVING ONSHORE THIS
MORNING OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. IN RESPONSE TO THE APPROACH OF
THE SHORT-WAVE...THE MARINE LAYER AT FORT ORD DEEPENED TO NEARLY
2000 FEET OVERNIGHT...WITH STRATUS/FOG PUSHING INLAND INTO THE
SALINAS VALLEY. THE 12Z ETA ACTUALLY HAS A WEAK IMPULSE PRECEEDING
THE FIRST WAVE...AND THE TIMING OF THIS FEATURE COINCIDES WITH THE
MARINE LAYER DEVELOPMENT. NEITHER THE NGM NOR AVN HAVE THIS
FEATURE...BUT THE GOES WATER-VAPOR LOOP DOES SHOW A SHALLOW HINT OF
A WEAK WAVE...BUT NOT AS FAR SOUTH AS THE ETA DIGS IT. FOR NOW...
BELIEVE THIS REPRESENTS A VALID FEATURE NOT FULLY EVIDENT ON THE
WATER-VAPOR IMAGERY AND WILL LEAN MORE TOWARD THE ETA THIS MORNING.

ALL THREE 12Z MODELS ARE IN AGREEMENT WITH THE SECOND...AND STRONGER
SHORT-WAVE...MOVING ONTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST BY 06Z FRIDAY.
THE TROUGH AXIS OF THIS WAVE IS FORECAST TO MOVE ACROSS CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA BETWEEN 18-24Z FRIDAY. THE 12Z MESO-ETA FORECASTS VERY
STRONG 700-MB SUBSIDENCE FRIDAY...WITH 700-MB OMEGA OF -16 MICROBARS/
SECOND OVER THE EASTERN THIRD OF KERN COUNTY. THEREFORE...WIND
ADVISORY FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS/DESERTS LATE TODAY AND
TONIGHT...AND THE HIGH WIND WATCH FOR THOSE AREAS FRIDAY...LOOKS ON
TRACK.

NO CHANGES TO THE FORECAST PACKAGE AT THIS TIME.

ALL POPS ZERO. SANGER

.HNX...WIND ADVISORY FOR LATE TODAY AND TONIGHT IN THE KERN COUNTY
       MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS.
    ...HIGH WIND WATCH FOR FRIDAY IN THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND
       DESERTS.

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Se Kern Cty Desert

When
May 9, 11:46 AM PST to May 10, 8:00 PM PST
Where
Se Kern Cty Desert forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Kern Cty Mtns

When
May 9, 4:53 PM PST to May 10, 8:00 PM PST
Where
Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Indian Wells Vly

When
May 9, 7:50 PM PST to May 10, 8:00 PM 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 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5291049, 5291047, 5291048.