Name: Strong Wind in California, April 22, 2003
Start: 2003-04-22T08:40
End: 2003-04-22T15:00
Location: California

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $2,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

Strong west wind again brought wind speeds consistently above 40 MPH in the Kern County Mountains and the Southeast Desert portions of the county. Several gusts reached about 50 MPH with an isolated gust to 67 MPH at Jawbone Canyon in the mountains.

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 Apr 22, 8:40 AM PST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 22, 8:40 AM PST, 0 minutes before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SERVICE HANFORD CA
940 AM PDT TUE APR 22 2003

UPPER LEVEL LOW CONTINUING TO MOVE OUT OF THE REGION THIS MORNING.
SHOWERS SHIFT SOUTHEASTWARD THIS MORNING. A FEW LIGHT SHOWERS
LINGERING IN THE MOUNTAINS AND THE SOUTH HALF OF THE VALLEY THIS
MORNING. SHOWERS SHOULD END OVER THE VALLEY...BUT WILL LEAVE MENTION
IN THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. WINDS WILL BE A PROBLEM IN
THE KERN MOUNTAINS AND DESERT. PRESSURE GRADIENTS 11.4 SFO-LAS THIS
MORNING AND WITH THE UPPER SUPPORT WINDS ARE INCREASING THROUGH AND
BELOW THE PASSES. WILL ISSUE WIND ADVISORY FOR THE KERN MOUNTAINS
AND DESERT FOR TODAY. SHORTWAVE RIDGE WILL SHIFT INLAND THIS EVENING
FOR A BRIEF DRY PERIOD WEDNESDAY. THE RIDGE WILL SHIFT EASTWARD BY
WEDNESDAY EVENING AS THE NEXT UPPER LOW DIGS SOUTHEAST FROM THE GLF
AK. THIS LOW AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL ARRIVE NRN PORTIONS OF
THE FA LATE WED...AND SPREAD SE ACROSS THE REGION THURSDAY.

.HNX...WIND ADVISORY FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERT TODAY.

BEAN

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 22, 5:00 AM PST, 3 hours 40 minutes before

CAZ089>099-231130-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
600 AM PDT TUE APR 22 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
INTERIOR.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

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

Event by event

2 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Strong Wind, Kern Cty Mtns

When: April 22, 8:40 AM PST to 3:00 PM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Measured: 46 kt (53 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Strong Wind, Se Kern Cty Desert

When: April 22, 8:40 AM PST to 3:00 PM PST
Where: Se Kern Cty Desert forecast zone
Measured: 37 kt (43 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

Strong Wind: Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in California, April 2003

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: 5350577, 5350578.