Heavy Rain in California, May 1 to 15, 2003

Name: Heavy Rain in California, May 1 to 15, 2003
Start: 2003-05-01T00:00
End: 2003-05-15T20:00
Location: California

May 1 to 15, 2003 · NWS HNX · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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: None recorded
Crop damage: $36 million
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.

As reported in the April 2003 time period, abnormally cool and wet weather persisted well into the Spring in the Central San Joaquin Valley. In addition to the damage reported in the April report to various crops in the Central San Joaquin Valley, the Madera and Kings County Ag Commissioners also reported that the wheat crop in their respective counties were additionally afflicted with striped rust disease due to the cool, wet April and early May. Other agricultural losses that were reported but not yet quantified by April included damage in Tulare County, Kern County, and Merced County.

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 30, 8:15 PM PST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 8:15 PM PST, 3 hours 45 minutes before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
915 PM PDT WED APR 30 2003

WV LOOP INDICATING SOME UPPER MOISTURE IS CURRENTLY SPREADING INLAND
INTO CENTRAL CA. THE 00Z ETA/NGM PICK UP WELL ON THE MOISTURE...BUT
DON/T PICK UP ON THE VORT MAX NEAR 35N/125W WHICH IS CURRENTLY
MOVING TOWARD THE BAY AREA. THE 00Z MESO WITH IT/S BETTER RESOLUTION
DOES PICK UP ON THIS FEATURE HOWEVER. A DEFORMATION AREA ASSOCIATED
WITH THE VORT IS PROGGED BY THE MESO TO SWING THROUGH THE CENTRAL CA
INTERIOR TONIGHT. THIS WILL KEEP HIGH CLOUDS OVER OUR CWFA AND KEEP
MIN TEMPS TONIGHT SLIGHTLY ABOVE THIS MORNING/S LOWS. CURRENTLY
TEMPS ARE RUNNING ABOUT 2 TO 4 DEG F ABOVE YDAY ATTM WHICH THE
CURRENT FORECAST TRENDS TOWARD. WITH THE UPPER MOISTURE BEING MAINLY
IN THE FORM OF THIN HIGH CLOUDS...WORDING OF PARTLY CLOUDY FOR
THE CWFA LOOKS GOOD. WINDS FOR TONIGHT ALSO LOOK GOOD. DON/T PLAN TO
MAKE ANY UPDATES TO THE CURRENT PACKAGE THIS EVENING. 00Z MESO
INDICATING A SERIES OF WEAK VORT MAX/S CROSSING THE CENTRAL CA
INTERIOR THURSDAY. WITH DAYTIME HEATING AND WAA TAKING PLACE
THURSDAY...EXPECT ENOUGH LIFT IN THE AFTERNOON TO TRIGGER SOME
ISOLATED SHOWERS NEAR THE SIERRA CREST. AS THE MAIN UPPER LOW WHICH
IS CURRENTLY LOCATED NEAR 39N/137W APPROACHES THE CA COAST THURSDAY
NIGHT...INCREASING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND MID LEVEL OMEGA WILL
SPREAD SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE CWFA AND BRING AN INCREASING CHANCE OF
PRECIPITATION. BY FRIDAY...THE CWFA WILL BE IN THE LFQ OF A 130KT
250MB JET MAX AS A FRONTAL RAIN BAND MOVES THROUGH CENTRAL CA WHICH
SHOULD ALLOW FOR A SIGNIFICANT LATE SEASON PRECIPITATION EVENT TO
TAKE PLACE. PROGGED QPF/S ARE BETWEEN A QUARTER INCH TO A HALF INCH
FOR THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY FOR FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT...WHICH IS
CLOSE TO NORMAL FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH OF MAY. SNOW LEVELS ARE PROGGED
TO BE BETWEEN 6500 AND 7000 FEET FOR MUCH OF THIS TIME FRAME WITH
FAVORED OROGRAPHICS PROVIDING FOR HEAVY SNOWFALL ABOVE 7000 FEET.
MIDNIGHT SHIFT MIGHT WISH TO CONSIDER A WINTER STORM WATCH FOR THE
SOUTHERN SIERRAS FOR FRIDAY. 00Z MESO INDICATING PROJECTED CAPES OF
100 TO 300 J/KG AND LI/S BETWEEN -2 AND +1 IN THE CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN
VALLEY FRIDAY AFTERNOON AFTER A COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE WHILE THE CLOSED
UPPER LOW IS STILL OFFSHORE. IF ANY CLEARING OCCURS BEHIND THE COLD
FRONT...THUNDERSTORMS COULD EASILY FIRE UP ACROSS THE CENTRAL SAN
JOAQUIN VALLEY...AND THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE SOUTH SAN JOAQUIN
VALLEY. PROJECTED SOUNDINGS FOR THE CENTRAL VALLEY FRIDAY AFTERNOON
INDICATING SIGNIFICANT STORM RELATIVE HELICITY AND GOOD LOW LEVEL
SHEAR TAKING PLACE. LATER SHIFTS WILL NEED TO CLOSELY MONITOR THIS
SITUATION...AND MAY WISH TO ADD MENTION OF THUNDERSTORMS FOR FRIDAY
AFTERNOON. SATURDAY LOOKS TO BE SHOWERY ACROSS THE CWFA AS THE UPPER
TROUGH FINALLY CROSSES THE CWFA.

.HNX...NONE.

DS

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 30, 4:30 AM PST, 19 hours 30 minutes before

CAZ089>099-011230-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
530 AM PDT WED APR 30 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...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST FOR SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT FOR THE
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, THE FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS, THE KERN COUNTY
MOUNTAINS, THE SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON AND FOR
THE TULARE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS.

.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.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Madera

When: May 1, 12:00 AM PST to May 15, 8:00 PM PST
Where: Madera County, Countywide
Crop damage: $7.8 million
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 37.218, -119.763 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Kings

When: May 1, 12:00 AM PST to May 15, 8:00 PM PST
Where: Kings County, Countywide
Crop damage: $5.5 million
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 36.075, -119.815 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Merced

When: May 1, 12:00 AM PST to May 15, 8:00 PM PST
Where: Merced County, Countywide
Crop damage: $2.0 million
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.192, -120.718 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Tulare

When: May 1, 12:00 AM PST to May 15, 8:00 PM PST
Where: Tulare County, Countywide
Crop damage: $11 million
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.220, -118.800 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Kern

When: May 1, 12:00 AM PST to May 15, 8:00 PM PST
Where: Kern County, Countywide
Crop damage: $9.6 million
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 35.343, -118.730 (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

Every storm in California in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in California, May 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: 5354656, 5354657, 5354658, 5354659, 5355410.