Flood and Heavy Rain in California, December 24 to 25, 2003

Name: Flood and Heavy Rain in California, December 24 to 25, 2003
Start: 2003-12-24T22:00
End: 2003-12-25T21:00
Location: California

December 24 to 25, 2003 · NWS HNX · 3 events in 3 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: $30,000
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.

Locally heavy rain on the Southern San Joaquin Valley floor and adjacent foothills led to flooding at several locations over the South Valley due to runoff, including the city of Bakersfield. Fresno received 0.99" of rain for the day shattering the old record of 0.53" set in 1946. Bakersfield receive 0.91" of rain eclipsing their old daily rainfall record of 0.76" set in 1931. A storm total precipitation of 1.54" was reported by a spotter just east of Fresno. Large amounts of snow fell in the neighboring Sierra Nevada Mountains. Some other higher storm precipitation totals at the lower elevations were 2.40" at Glennville, 2.28" at Mariposa, and 0.55" at Mojave and 0.46" at China Lake in the Kern Deserts. There were 4 indirect deaths in vehicles caused by the heavy rainfall southeast of Bakersfield.

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 Dec 24, 8:50 PM PST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 24, 8:50 PM PST, 1 hour 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
850 PM PST WED DEC 24 2003

.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...KHNX 88D
INDICATING MODERATE TO LOCALLY HEAVY PRECIPITATION CONTINUING ACROSS
OROGRAPHICALLY FAVORED AREAS IN THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS
AT THIS TIME. BASED ON RAWS OBSERVATIONS...THE PRECIPITATION IS
FALLING AS SNOW ABOVE 6000 FEET NEAR YOSEMITE AND AT ABOUT 7500 FEET
ALONG THE BORDER BETWEEN TULARE AND KERN COUNTIES WHICH IS CONSISTENT
WITH CURRENT PROJECTIONS. CURRENT WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FOR
THE SOUTHERN SIERRAS LOOKS GOOD AND WILL FRESHEN UP BY 900 PM.
ELSEWHERE KHNX 88D IS INDICATING ONLY A FEW SPOTS OF LIGHT RAIN
ACROSS THE AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...00Z PROGS ARE CONTINUING THE
TREND OF AMPLIFYING THE UPPER TROUGH OVER CA AS THE MAIN UPPER LOW
PUSHES INTO BC. THIS WILL RESULT IN A MOIST BAROCLINIC BAND PUSHING
ACROSS CENTRAL CA LATER TONIGHT AND ON CHRISTMAS DAY AHEAD OF A
STRONG COLD FRONT. 00Z MESO STILL PROJECTING IMPRESSIVE QPF/S WITH
AND ADDITIONAL HALF INCH TO ONE INCH ACROSS THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
AND 2 TO 3 INCHES OF LIQUID WATER EQUIVALENT ACROSS THE SOUTHERN
SIERRAS. EXPECT SNOW LEVELS TO PLUMMET TO 2500 FEET ON CHRISTMAS
NIGHT WITH POST FRONTAL CAA. POST FRONTAL SHOWERS SHOULD TAPER OFF
FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT AS THE AIRMASS SLOWLY STABILIZES. CURRENT
OBS INDICATING GOING FORECAST LOOKS TO BE IN GOOD SHAPE SO AM NOT
PLANNING ANY UPDATES THIS EVENING.

.LONG TERM...FROM PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...FOR SUNDAY THROUGH
WEDNESDAY...MODEL CONSENSUS LACKING THRU THE PERIOD AS FAR AS
INDIVIDUAL DETAILS ARE CONCERNED...BUT GENERALLY AGREE IN A COOL
UNSETTLED PATTERN CONTINUING. SUN SHOULD BE MAINLY DRY...WITH A
SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS NRN HALF OF THE FA. NEXT SYS DROPS SE OUT OF
THE GLFAK FOR MON. NOGAPS AND GEM DEVELOP THIS SYS STRONGER THAN THE
REST BUT KEEP CENTER FARTHER NORTH. GFS MUCH FASTER BUT STILL
DEVELOPS A CLOSED CENTER THAT MOVES ACROSS CA MON AND MON NITE. THE
ECM LOOKS LIKE A GOOD COMPROMISE FOR NOW IN BOTH STRENGTH AND
TIMING...THUS INCREASING PRECIP CHANCES MON...LINGERING INTO TUES.
PER DISCUSSION OUT OF NCEP...THEY ARE FAVORING A MEAN TROF POSITION
ALONG 110W DAY 7 WHICH SHOULD MEAN A DRIER N-NW FLOW ALOFT FOR
CENTRAL CA. HOWEVER...WITH CURRENT UNSETTLED PATTERN ACROSS THE
PACIFIC...A LOT COULD CHANGE OVER TIME. CONFIDENCE LEVEL FOR POPS AND
TIMING...OR ANY DRYING FOR THAT MATTER IN THE EXTENDED NOT TOO HIGH
RIGHT NOW.

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE
    SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO THE KERN COUNTY
    LINE TONIGHT THROUGH CHRISTMAS DAY.

&&

DS/BINGHAM

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 24, 5:00 AM PST, 17 hours before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
500 AM PST WED DEC 24 2003

CAZ089>095-098-099-251300-
WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS-TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS-
KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-
SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
500 AM PST WED DEC 24 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN
JUOAQUIN VALLEY..THE MARIPOSA..MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS...
THE TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS...AND THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND
DESERTS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

CAZ096-097-251300-
SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
500 AM PST WED DEC 24 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA
FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON...AND THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA
NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON...AND THE TULARE COUNTY
MOUNTAINS. REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER PRODUCT...WWUS46
KHNX...FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

THE WINTER STORM WARNING WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY.
REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER PRODUCT...WWUS46 KHNX...FOR
FURTHER DETAILS.

TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION ABOVE 8000 FEET WILL AVERAGE 2 TO 3 FEET
NORTH OF KINGS CANYON...AND AROUND 2 FEET IN THE TULARE COUNTY
MOUNTAINS. LESSER AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED NEAR 5000 FEET WITH TOTAL
ACCUMULATION 12 TO 18 INCHES NORTH OF KINGS CANYON...AND 10 TO 15
INCHES IN THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 heavy rain, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Fresno

When: December 24, 10:00 PM PST to December 25, 4:00 PM PST
Where: Fresno County, Fresno
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 36.758, -119.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Kern

When: December 24, 11:00 PM PST to December 25, 7:00 PM PST
Where: Kern County, Bakersfield
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 35.343, -118.730 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Se S.J. Valley

When: December 25, 5:07 PM PST to 9:00 PM PST
Where: Se S.J. Valley forecast zone
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

What these are

Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
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 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in California, December 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: 5332358, 5332359, 5332357.