Cold in California, November 4, 2003

Name: Cold in California, November 4, 2003
Start: 2003-11-04T04:53
End: 2003-11-04T07:35
Location: California

November 4, 2003 · NWS HNX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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.

After a mild October, the weather turned seasonal at the first of November and subsequently a little earlier than normal frost occurred in portions of the Central and South San Joaquin Valley agricultural areas. Minimum temperatures were observed at 30 deg F. at both Merced and Hanford on the morning of the 4th. There were no agricultural losses reported from this early frost.

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 4, 3:30 AM PST, 1 hour 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 4, 3:30 AM PST, 1 hour 23 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
330 AM PST TUE NOV 4 2003

.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...TEMPERATURES
THIS MORNING HAVE COOLED TO NEAR SATURATION...WITH DEW POINTS
REMAINING IN THE MID TO UPPER 30S. WITH MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES...STILL
COULD SEE SOME PATCHY FOG AROUND DAYBREAK...BUT FROST THREAT IS LESS
LIKELY. SATELLITE LOOPS SHOW THAT THE UPSLOPE STRATOCUMULUS THAT
FORMED ALONG THE NORTH SLOPES OF THE TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS HAS MOSTLY
DISSIPATED...ALTHOUGH SOME CLOUDS PERSIST NEAR FRAZIER PARK.

SATELLITE LOOPS AND THE 00Z MODELS SHOW THAT THE UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH
HAS MOVED INLAND...EAST OF CALIFORNIA. OFF THE COAST...AN
UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE EXTENDS NORTHWARD INTO EASTERN ALASKA AND FAR
WESTERN YUKON. FURTHER WEST...ANOTHER UPPER-LEVEL LOW IS OVER THE
BERING SEA...AND A TROUGH ASSOCIATED WITH THUS LOW IS FORECAST TO
ROTATE INTO THE EAST PACIFIC AND UNDERCUT THE RIDGE AS THE BASE OF
THE TROUGH CLOSES OFF.

AS THE FIRST TROUGH PULLS EASTWARD...500-MB HEIGHTS WILL REBOUND
SOMEWHAT THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. THE 00Z MODELS ARE IN AGREEMENT
WITH A 50-METER RISE IN 500-MB HEIGHTS BY THIS AFTERNOON...WITH
ANOTHER 50 METER RISE FOR WEDNESDAY. BY THURSDAY...THE GFS HAS A
REXX BLOCK IN THE EAST PACIFIC WITH A HIGH WEST OF THE QUEEN
CHARLOTTE ISLANDS AND A CLOSED LOW WEST OF CAPE MENDOCINO.

FOR THIS AFTERNOON...THE MODELS DROP A 500-MB VORTICITY INTO
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA. THIS VORTICITY WILL BRUSH THE
NORTHERN EDGE OF YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK...SO WILL KEEP THE SLIGHT
CHANCE POPS NEAR THE CREST AT YOSEMITE FOR THIS AFTERNOON.

AS THE NEXT CLOSED LOW UNDERCUTS THE RIDGE...A SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT
SETS UP OVER CALIFORNIA. THIS FLOW IS FORECAST TO BRING AN 80+ KT
JET INTO THE NORTHERN HALF OF CALIFORNIA AT 250 MB THURSDAY. AT THE
SAME TIME...THE GFS INCREASES THE 850-700-MB LAYER HUMIDITIES TO 80+
PERCENT. PER DISCUSSION WITH NEIGHBORING OFFICES...WILL INCREASE
AFTERNOON POPS TO CHANCE OVER THE CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND THE
SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA NORTH OF KINGS CANYON.

.LONG TERM...FOR FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY...THE GFS AND EURO MODELS ARE
IN BETTER AGREEMENT TODAY. MODELS PROG A STRONG PACIFIC STORM WILL
BRING A THREAT OF SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION ACROSS CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. THE GFS SHOWS 1.0 QPF ACROSS THE
CALIFORNIA INTERIOR FRIDAY. STRONG SOUTHWEST FLOW AHEAD OF THE
SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE GOOD OROGRAPHIC LIFT ALONG THE WEST SLOPES OF
THE SIERRAS INCREASING THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY SNOW. EXPECT THE
THREAT OF SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION TO DIMINISH BY SUNDAY AS THE
STORM MOVES INTO THE INTERIOR WEST. THE EURO AND GFS DROP ANOTHER
UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA SUNDAY. HENCE WILL
DIMINISH PRECIPITATION THREAT TO SLIGHT CHANCES SUNDAY AS UNSETTLED
WEATHER CONDITIONS MAY CONTINUE INTO MONDAY.

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.

&&

SANGER/VASQUEZ

Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 4, 4:30 AM PST, 23 minutes before

CAZ089>099-051230-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
430 AM PST TUE NOV 4 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 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Cold/Wind Chill, Sw S.J. Valley

When: November 4, 4:53 AM PST to 5:53 AM PST
Where: Sw S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Cold/Wind Chill, E Central S.J. Valley

When: November 4, 6:26 AM PST to 7:35 AM PST
Where: E Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

What these are

Cold/Wind Chill: Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.

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, November 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: 5371006, 5371005.