Heavy Rain, Fresno
- When
- February 13, 9:45 PM PST to 11:45 PM PST
- Where
- Fresno County, 1 mi NW of Fig Garden
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 36.758, -119.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain in California, February 13, 2003
Urban flooding to a depth of 3 feet occurred around Northwest Fresno due to heavy rain on the evening of the 13th. 4 inches of rain fall in the Kerman area by 2240 PST...
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $100,000
- 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.
Urban flooding to a depth of 3 feet occurred around Northwest Fresno due to heavy rain on the evening of the 13th. A harbinger of the event saw 1.4 inches of rain fall in the Kerman area by 2240 PST... then 1.91" at Madera Ranchos from 2200-2340 PST... and 2.5" between 2200 and 2300 PST with a total of 3.4" of rain between 2145 and 2345 PST in northwest Fresno.
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 Feb 13, 8:55 PM PST, 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 13, 8:55 PM PST, 50 minutes before
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 855 PM PST THU FEB 13 2003 UPPER TROUGH WAS MOVING SLOWLY ONSHORE THIS EVE WITH EMBEDDED VORT AXIS SUPPORTING FURTHER SHOWER DEVELOPMENT AS IT PUSHES INTO THE CWA. STRONGER CELLS THUS FAR HAVE BEEN CONFINED TO SURFACE MOISTURE CONVERGENCE POOL OVER WEST-CENTRAL FRESNO COUNTY WHERE A FEW LIGHTNING STRIKES ARE STILL EVIDENT. THOUGH INCOMING PROGS ARE NOT PROJECTING STRONG DYNAMICS OVERNIGHT...RUC AND MESOETA INDICATE SOME UPPER VORTICITY LINGERING THROUGH 12Z THAT SHOULD CONT TO SUPPORT SCATTERED SHOWERS...AND ISOLD THUNDERSTORMS...ACROSS THE DISTRICT. WITH ONLY MINOR CHANGES IN UPPER AIR TEMPS OR THICKNESSES PROJECTED THRU 12Z FRI...CURRENT SNOW LEVELS IN ZONES REMAINS ON TRACK. WILL PREPARE MINOR ZONE UPDATE TO EXTEND POTENTIAL FOR THUNDER THRU THE REMAINDER OF TONIGHT. OTHERWISE CURRENT PACKAGE REMAINS ON TRACK WITH NO OTHER UPDATES ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. JSN .HNX...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 13, 5:30 AM PST, 16 hours 15 minutes before
CAZ089>099-141345- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 530 AM PST THU FEB 13 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR. .DAY ONE...TODAY RAIN SHOWERS ARE LIKELY THIS MORNING...THEN A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR RAIN SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Rain, Fresno
- When
- February 13, 10:00 PM PST to 10:40 PM PST
- Where
- Fresno County, 5 mi NE of Kerman
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 36.758, -119.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Heavy Rain
- Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Cold in North Dakota, February 13, 2003
- Winter Storm in New Mexico, February 13 to 23, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, February 13, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Arizona, February 13 to 14, 2003
- Heavy Rain in California, February 13, 2003
- Funnel Cloud in Hawaii, February 13, 2003
- Heavy Rain in Hawaii, February 13, 2003
- Funnel Cloud in California, February 13, 2003
- High Wind in Virginia, February 13, 2003
More
Every storm in California in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 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: 5342713, 5342712.