High Wind in California, November 25 to 26, 2002

Name: High Wind in California, November 25 to 26, 2002
Start: 2002-11-25T09:00
End: 2002-11-26T16:00
Location: California

November 25 to 26, 2002 · NWS HNX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

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.

A closed low off the Southern California Coast provided for strong offshore pressure gradients resulting in gusty northeast wind flow over the upper elevations of the Southern Sierra Nevada and Tulare County Mountains, and the Indian Wells Valley in the Kern County Desert. In the S.Sierra, power outages were reported in Yosemite Valley as winds downed power lines and trees and trees were downed along Highway 140 down to El Portal. Wind speeds reached 40-50 MPH consistently with a gust to 61 MPH and Ellery Lake. Likewise in the Tulare County Mountains, speed in the range of 40-50 MPH were common with a gust to 62 MPH at Bear Peak. In the Indian Wells Valley, wind speeds of 40-50 MPH were observed with a few gusts over 60 MPH and an isolated gust to 79 MPH at Laural Mountain early in the afternoon of the 25th.

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 Nov 25, 3:00 AM PST, 6 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 25, 3:00 AM PST, 6 hours before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
300 AM PST MON NOV 25 2002

VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVES SOUTH TODAY CLOSING OFF AND
STALLING IN THE S CA ALONG THE COLORADO RIVER BASIN AT END OF THE
DAY. FRONTAL BOUNDARY LOCATED ALONG THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND
JUST NORTH OF RIDGECREST. TROUGH IS DRY WITH ONLY UPPER LEVEL
MOISTURE TO WORK WITH. SO WILL REMOVE SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION
FOR THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS TODAY. LOW CLOUDS CONTINUE TO PLAGUE
THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY THIS MORNING. BUT EXPECT CLEARING BY THE
AFTERNOON WITH MIXING BREAKING DOWN INVERSION AND DRIER AIR BEHIND
TROUGH. MAIN WEATHER THREAT WITH THIS SYSTEM WILL BE HIGH WINDS
TODAY AND TONIGHT. STRONG SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING BEHIND THE
UPPER TROUGH IN THE GREAT BASIN WILL RESULT IN STRONG OFFSHORE
SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS ESPECIALLY IN NORTH CA AND DESERTS.
MODELS INDICATE 40-50KT AT 700MB. WILL MENTION NEAR ADVISORY LEVEL
NORTHEAST WINDS OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATION OF THE SIERRA AND
TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS THROUGH TONIGHT. WINDY CONDITION MAY CONTINUE
INTO WEDNESDAY IN THE MOJAVE DESERT WITH OFFSHORE GRADIENTS
REMAINING STRONG AND A SECOND UPPER LEVEL JET PUSHING SOUTH THROUGH
NEVADA TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. WILL MENTION PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES
TONIGHT AND TUESDAY IN DESERTS AND TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS WITH SOME
WRAP AROUND MOISTURE AROUND THE CUTOFF LOW.

IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS CONT TO HAVE DIFFICULTY
WITH EVENTUAL TRACK OF UPPER LOW PROGGED TO LINGER NEAR SOCAL AT
THE END OF THE WEEK. GFS INDICATES A MORE RAPID INLAND EJECTION WITH
CENTER SHIFTING OVER CENTRAL AZ BY 12Z SAT...WHILE CANADIAN ...
ECM...AND UKMET PROJECT A MORE SLOW TIMING. DESPITE TIMING
DIFFERENCES IN EVOLUTION OF UPPER PATTERN...DRY WX WILL CONT OVER
THE CWA THURS-SUN WITH SOME INCREASE IN TEMPS AS HEIGHTS/THICKNESSES
SLOWLY RECOVER. WINDS SHOULD ALSO DIMINISH BY THE WEEKEND AS
OFFSHORE SURFACE GRADS WEAKEN AND FLOW ALOFT RELAXES. JSN

.HNX...NONE.

MV

Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 25, 7:00 AM PST, 2 hours before

CAZ089>099-261400-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
700 AM PST MON NOV 25 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
INTERIOR.

.DAY ONE...

A VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL BRING STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS
TO THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SIERRA AND TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS.
GUSTY WINDS AND BLOWING DUST ARE EXPECTED NEAR MERCED AND ALONG THE
WEST SIDE OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AS WELL AS THE KERN COUNTY
DESERT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE KERN COUNTY
DESERT TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. PATCHY FROST IS EXPECTED TO
MATERIALIZE IN THE COLDER SPOTS OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY TUESDAY
NIGHT.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, S Sierra Mtns

When: November 25, 9:00 AM PST to November 26, 4:00 PM PST
Where: S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Indian Wells Vly

When: November 25, 10:15 AM PST to November 26, 4:00 PM PST
Where: Indian Wells Vly forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Tulare Cty Mtns

When: November 25, 11:15 AM PST to November 26, 4:00 PM PST
Where: Tulare Cty Mtns 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

Every storm in California in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in California, November 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: 5319409, 5319411, 5319410.