Winter Storm and Flooding in California, November 7 to 9, 2002

Name: Winter Storm and Flooding in California, November 7 to 9, 2002
Start: 2002-11-07T06:00
End: 2002-11-09T16:00
Location: California

November 7 to 9, 2002 · NWS HNX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $23,000
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.

After a relatively benign active weather month in October, November 2002 also started slow for Interior Central California. However, the first major trough off from the East Pacific combined with tropical moisture from Hurricane Huko at southern latitudes brought copious amounts of rain (snow levels at or above 9,000 feet Mean Sea Level) and gusty wind at higher elevations from the 7th until early on the 9th. What was unusual for this area was the change from the normal summer/fall dry conditions to the wet season in such dramatic fashion with little in the way of transition. During the period in the Southern Sierra Nevada 46" of new snow fell at Volcanic Knob and Upper Burnt Corral; and in the Tulare County Mountains 80" fell at Chagoopa Plateau. Numerous foothill locations received 5-10" of rain within the 3-day period in the foothills of the Southern Sierra Nevada. Johnsondale, in Tulare County received 16.38" of rain in the 3-day period. On the San Joaquin Valley floor Merced received 1.80" in 3 days, Fresno 1.76"; Hanford 1.44"; and, Bakersfield 1.29." Rainfall amounts for the 8th were over 1" at several Valley locations thereby establishing new 24-hour rainfall records, e.g. Fresno's old record for the 8th was 0.23" ... new record 0.98". There were 23 pole fires caused by wind and arcing reported by Southern California Edison utility and ultimately affected 102,000 residents in the Central and Southern S.J. Valley.

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 7, 4:00 AM PST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 7, 4:00 AM PST, 2 hours before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
400 AM PST THU NOV 7 2002

COMPLEX PATTERN EVOLVING ACROSS THE PACIFIC. FIRST IN A SERIES OF
STRONG SHORTWAVES MOVING ONSHORE THIS MORNING WITH LIGHT RAIN
DEVELOPING NORTH OF KERN CO. AS ATMO BECOMES MORE SATURATED...RAIN
SHOULD BECOME HEAVIER AND MORE WIDESPREAD. AN EVEN STRONGER
SHORTWAVE WAS LOCATED OUT NEAR 170W. THIS WAVE HAS ENTRAINED THE
REMAINS OF ONCE HURRICANE HUKO. THIS MOISTURE WILL SPREAD RAPIDLY
EAST...REACHING CENTRAL CA TONIGHT. MODELS SIMILAR IN CREATING
RATHER HIGH QPF TOTALS FOR THE MTNS. FOR THIS REASON...HAVE ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE MANTER AND MCNALLY BURN AREAS OF TULARE
CO. REMAINDER OF THE SIERRA AND FOOTHILLS WILL HAVE TO BE MONITORED
AS WELL FOR POSSIBLE SMALL STREAM RISES. PRECIP TO CONT THRU FRI
NITE AS MORE MOISTURE/SHORTWAVE ENERGY CONTINUES TO STREAM ACROSS
THE REGION. DECREASING PRECIP CHANCES SAT AS HEIGHTS BEGIN TO
REBOUND AND ZONAL FLOW INTO CA WEAKENS. SNOW LEVELS IN THE SRN
SIERRA WILL BE HIGH...AND NOW WITH TROPICAL ENTRAINMENT...MODELS
KEEP SNOW ABOVE 8K. QPF AMOUNTS ABOVE 8K WOULD FAVOR OVER 3 FEET OF
SNOW. SNOW IN THE KERN MTNS WOULD ONLY BE AT THE VERY HIGHEST
PEAKS...IF ANY AT ALL. SO HAVE TAKEN MENTION OF SNOW OUT THERE UNTIL
POSSIBLY SAT. WINDS WILL ALSO BE INCREASING MOST AREAS LATER TODAY
AND CONTINUE INTO FRI. BINGHAM

IN THE EXTENDED...PROGS INDICATING NORTHWEST FLOW DEVELOPS OVER THE
CENTRAL CA INTERIOR SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY AS A RIDGE BEGINS TO
AMPLIFY NEAR 130W. THIS WILL BRING MID/UPPER LEVEL DRYING TO THE
REGION BY VETERANS DAY. WILL KEEP MENTION OF CHANCE POPS ACROSS THE
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND SIERRAS/TEHACHAPIS ON SATURDAY NIGHT THEN
DIMINISHING ON SUNDAY...AS THE LAST SIGNIFICANT WAVE WHICH MOVES
NORTH OF THE AREA SATURDAY NIGHT EXITS THE REGION. EXPECT LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE TO REMAIN BANKED UP AGAINST THE SIERRA FOOTHILLS AND THE
EAST SIDE AND SOUTH END OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY ON SUNDAY WHICH
SHOULD KEEP LOW CLOUDS AND FOG IN THESE AREAS FOR MUCH OF THE DAY.
LOW CLOUDS MAY PERSIST ON INTO VETERANS DAY IN THE SOUTH VALLEY AS
PROGS ARE INDICATING SIGNIFICANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE LINGERING.
RADIATIONAL FOG WILL BECOME A CONCERN IN THE CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN
VALLEY BY VETERANS DAY AS CLEAR SKIES...LIGHT WINDS AND LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE WILL MAKE CONDITIONS FAVORABLE FOR FOG FORMATION SUNDAY
NIGHT. EXPECT LATE NIGHT AND MORNING FOG TO BE THE MAIN CONCERN
ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY ON TUESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY...AS MOISTURE LINGERS NEAR THE VALLEY FLOOR. MAY SEE AN
INCREASE IN MID/UPPER MOISTURE DURING THE DAY WEDNESDAY AS THE RIDGE
FLATTENS AS A PAC SHORTWAVE CROSSES THE PAC NW. HEIGHTS SHOULD
REMAIN FAIRLY HIGH THROUGH MID-WEEK AND DYNAMICS ARE PROGGED TO
REMAIN WELL TO THE NORTH OF OUR AREA...SO A DRY FORECAST SHOULD BE
THE RULE FOR OUR CWFA. TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE A LITTLE ABOVE NORMAL
BY MIDWEEK...ALTHOUGH PERSISTENT FOG COULD HOLD BACK WARMING IN THE
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY.  DS

.HNX...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA...NORTH OF
       KERN COUNTY...TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT.
    ...HIGH WIND WATCH FOR KERN MOUNTAINS AND KERN DESERTS TONIGHT
       AND FRIDAY.
    ...WIND ADVISORY FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
       TONIGHT AND FRIDAY.
    ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT AND FRIDAY FOR THE MANTER AND
       MCNALLY BURN AREAS OF TULARE COUNTY.

Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 7, 6:00 AM PST, 0 minutes before

CAZ089>099-081330-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
600 AM PST THU NOV 7 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
INTERIOR.

.DAY ONE...

A PACIFIC STORM WILL CONTINUE ACROSS CENTRAL CALIFORNIA TODAY...
BRINGING WIDESPREAD RAIN TO THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR AND
HEAVY SNOW OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SIERRA.

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

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

A PACIFIC STORM WILL CONTINUE IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA THROUGH
SATURDAY...BRINGING THE POTENTIAL FOR WIDESPREAD RAIN AND HEAVY SNOW
OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SIERRA THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. THE
STORM IS EXPECTED TO BRING HIGH WINDS TO THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS
THROUGH SATURDAY. IMPROVING CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BEGIN LATE
SATURDAY. THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER FOR
SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY IS LOW.

PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE SOUTHERN
SIERRA NEVADA ABOVE 7000 FEET...NORTH OF KERN COUNTY...FOR THURSDAY
THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT...SFOWSWHNX...OR WMO I.D. WWUS46 KHNX.

PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST HIGH WIND WATCH FOR THE KERN COUNTY
MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS...SFONPWHNX...OR WMO I.D. WWUS76 KHNX.

PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE MANTER AND
MCNALLY BURN AREAS OF TULARE COUNTY...SFOFFAHNX...OR WMO I.D.
WGUS66 KHNX.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

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

BINGHAM

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 winter storm, 2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, S Sierra Mtns

When: November 7, 6:00 AM PST to November 9, 4:00 PM PST
Where: S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Winter Storm, Tulare Cty Mtns

When: November 7, 6:00 AM PST to November 9, 4:00 PM PST
Where: Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Flood, Fresno

When: November 8, 4:00 PM PST to November 9, 4:00 PM PST
Where: Fresno County, Fresno
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 36.758, -119.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Kern

When: November 8, 4:00 PM PST to November 9, 4:00 PM PST
Where: Kern County, Bakersfield
Property damage: $23,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 35.343, -118.730 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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: 5319333, 5319334, 5319335, 5319336.