Flooding in California, November 8 to 9, 2002

Name: Flooding in California, November 8 to 9, 2002
Start: 2002-11-08T10:00
End: 2002-11-09T18:00
Location: California

November 8 to 9, 2002 · NWS HNX · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

38" at Johnsondale. especially in and around the Tulare County Mountains.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $200,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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.

Tehachapi in Kern County reported 4.67" of rain and Lodgepole in Tulare County received 11.55" of rain in the 3-day period from the 7th to the 9th along with the 16.38" at Johnsondale. Despite the very dry antecedent conditions, this amount of rainfall lead to flooding problems...especially in and around the Tulare County Mountains. Snow levels were relatively high, at 9000 feet MSL. Park Dispatch reported washouts on Parker Pass Road and the Road below Durwood Resort in Southeast Tulare County, as well as the road that leads from Johnsondale southward to Kernville in Kern County. Flooding also occurred along Highway 178 near Kelso in Kern County (Glennville received 6" of rain); rock/mudslides occurred on Highway 168 and Highway 180 in the S.Sierra Nevada foothills; and, with numerous rock/mudslides, and road erosion problems, the Tulare County foothill roadways of the General's Highway and Mineral King were closed. Sequoia National Park had to evacuate folks from a flooded trailer park near Ash Mountain on the morning of the 9th. Due to erosion problems with the McNally Fire in Southeast Tulare and Northeast Kern Counties, debris was spread across many mountain roads in the area as well as contributing to a fish kill in the Kern River. Additional flooding and mudslide problems were noted along Highway 178 in Kern County. Peak flow into Lake Isabella from the Kern River was 26,500 CFS on Friday night, the 8th. The lake storage increased from 82,000 acre-feet to 109,000 acre-feet and increased in elevation 5 feet in a 2-day period from the 8th to 9th.

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 8, 9:25 AM PST, 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 8, 9:25 AM PST, 35 minutes before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
925 AM PST FRI NOV 8 2002

NEXT RIPPLE IN THE UPPER FLOW MAKING ITS WAY TO CALIFORNIA AT THIS
TIME...BRINGING ANOTHER BOUT OF MODERATE RAIN TO THE NORTHERN THIRD
OF THE DISTRICT.  IMPRESSIVE SNOWFALL CONTINUES ACROSS THE
SIERRA...WITH WATER EQUIVALENT TOTALS RUNNING UPWARDS OF 4 INCHES AT
SOME LOCALES ABOVE THE SNOW LEVEL...TRANSLATING INTO APPROXIMATELY 4
FEET OF SNOW SINCE PRECIPITATION BEGAN.  VALLEY TOTALS HAVE ALSO
BEEN QUITE HIGH...AND WILL SOON ISSUE STATEMENT HIGHLIGHTING SOME
ACCUMULATED TOTALS...SEE AWIPS HEADER /SFOLSRHNX/ OR WMO HEADER
/NWUS56 KHNX/.

AFTER THIS WAVE DEPARTS OVERNIGHT...EXPECT VALLEY CONDITIONS TO
BRIEFLY DRY OUT BUT FAVORABLE OROGRAPHICS COMBINED WITH BROAD
PACIFIC MOISTURE FETCH WILL ALLOW PRECIPITATION TO CONTINUE TO AMASS
IN THE WINDWARD MOUNTAINS. THE NEXT IMPULSE RIDING THE FLOW ENTERS
THE PICTURE BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON...WARRANTING A CONTINUED CHANCE
FOR PRECIPITATION ALL AREAS THEN. THIS WAVE WILL PUSH EASTWARD
SATURDAY NIGHT WHEN THE VALLEY SHOULD FINALLY DRY OUT. ONCE
AGAIN...PRECIPITATION WILL LINGER IN THE MOUNTAINS DUE TO ENHANCED
UPSLOPE...BUT EVEN THERE SHOULD BECOME A NON-EVENT BY LATE MORNING
SUNDAY. THEREAFTER...A NICE PACIFIC RIDGE BEGINS TO BUILD EASTWARD.
WITH INITIALLY CLEARING SKIES...AND A SATURATED AND STABILIZING
LOWER LAYER...WOULD EXPECT OUR FIRST TULE FOG EPISODE BY MONDAY
MORNING AND ESPECIALLY TUESDAY MORNING. NO UPDATES TO THE CURRENT
PACKAGE.

BURGER

.HNX...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA...NORTH
       OF KERN COUNTY...AND ABOVE 8000 FEET...TONIGHT THROUGH
       SATURDAY NIGHT.
    ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TONIGHT FOR THE MANTER AND MCNALLY
       BURN AREAS OF TULARE COUNTY.

Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 8, 5:20 AM PST, 4 hours 40 minutes before

CAZ089>099-091330-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
520 AM PST FRI NOV 8 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...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

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

PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE SOUTHERN
SIERRA NEVADA ABOVE 8000 FEET...NORTH OF KERN COUNTY...TODAY AND
SATURDAY...SFOWSWHNX...OR WMO I.D. WWUS46 KHNX.

PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENT FOR THE MANTER AND MCNALLY
BURN AREAS OF TULARE COUNTY...SFOFLSHNX...OR WMO I.D. WGUS86 KHNX.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

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

BINGHAM

Event by event

5 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Tulare Cty Mtns

When: November 8, 10:00 AM PST to 4:00 PM PST
Where: Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE

Flood, Kern Cty Mtns

When: November 8, 10:00 AM PST to November 9, 4:00 PM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE

Flood, Tulare Cty Foothills

When: November 8, 12:30 PM PST to November 9, 6:00 PM PST
Where: Tulare Cty Foothills forecast zone
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE

Flood, S Sierra Mtns

When: November 8, 3:00 PM PST to November 9, 6:00 PM PST
Where: S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE

Flood, S Sierra Foothills

When: November 8, 3:00 PM PST to November 9, 6:00 PM PST
Where: S Sierra Foothills forecast zone
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE

What these are

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: 5319350, 5319352, 5319408, 5319351, 5319407.