Heavy Rain in California, November 9, 2003

Name: Heavy Rain in California, November 9, 2003
Start: 2003-11-09T14:00
End: 2003-11-09T22:00
Location: California

November 9, 2003 · NWS HNX · 2 events in 1 county or zone

A spotter reported 2 inches of rain in a locally heavy rain shower from convective activity just west of the Fresno County town of Mendota from 1830 to 1930 Hours on the evening of the 9th. Subsequent ponding and flow of water into town brought damage to one home as well as substantial sheet flow through town during the evening from 1900 to 2100 hours.

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: $10,000
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.

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 9, 9:05 AM PST, 4 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 9, 9:05 AM PST, 4 hours 55 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
905 AM PST SUN NOV 9 2003

.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...SATELLITE AND
RADAR LOOPS SHOW BREAKS IN THE PRECIPITATION BANDS AS THEY MOVE
ACROSS THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR. WITH SOME SOLAR HEATING
THROUGH THESE BREAKS...THE SHORT-TERM FORECAST CONCERN IS WHETHER
WIDESPREAD CONVECTION WILL DEVELOP OVER THE HANFORD WARNING/FORECAST
AREA. /THUNDERSTORMS ALREADY HAVE DEVELOPED OVER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
AND A COUPLE OF LIGHTNING STRIKES HAVE OCCURRED IN MARIPOSA COUNTY./

BOTH THE GFS AND MESO-ETA HAVE A STRONG 250-MB JET MOVING ACROSS
NORTH-CENTRAL CALIFORNIA THIS MORNING...WITH A 135+ KT SPEED MAX
OVER YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK AROUND 12Z. AS THE UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH
MOVES SOUTH DURING THE DAY...THE 250-MB JET WILL DROP DOWN CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA. BY 18Z...THE MESO-ETA HAS THE CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
UNDER THE RIGHT REAR QUADRANT OF A 125-KT SPEED MAX. THE MESO-ETA
POINT FORECAST SOUNDING FOR THE MERCED AREA THIS AFTERNOON HAS
SURFACE-BASED CAPES AROUND 500 J/KG...SO THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE
THIS AFTERNOON.

SPOTTER REPORTS SHOW THAT THE SNOW LEVELS IN THE SOUTHERN SIERRA
NEVADA ARE BETWEEN 6500 AND 7000 FEET. EXPECT THE SNOW LEVELS TO
DROP 500-1000 FEET BY THIS EVENING AS THE TROUGH BRINGS COLDER AIR
ALOFT INTO THE REGION. WILL LEAVE THE WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE
SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON...AND THE SNOW ADVISORY
FOR THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS...IN PLACE.

THE 12Z MODELS ARE IN AGREEMENT WITH THE UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH SLOWLY
DROPPING THROUGH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA TONIGHT AND MONDAY...WITH A
CLOSED LOW DEVELOPING IN THE BASE OF THE TROUGH. BY 12Z TUESDAY...
THE LOW IS FORECAST TO BE JUST OFF POINT CONCEPTION...WITH A WEAK
500-MB RIDGE BUILDING INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FROM THE PACIFIC AS
THE TROUGH PINCHES OFF.

HAVE UPDATED THE SIERRA NEVADA ZONE FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON
AND THE MARIPOSA/MADERA/FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS TO ADD ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS DUE TO OBSERVED LIGHTNING.

.LONG TERM...FOR WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...MEDIUM RANGE SOLUTIONS
CONTINUE TO BE IN GOOD AGREEMENT REGARDING THE EVENTUAL TRACK OF THE
UPPER LOW THAT BEGINS THE PERIOD JUST OFF THE SOCAL COAST. MOST
MODELS PLACE THE LOW NEAR POINT CONCEPTION...ALTHOUGH THE CANADIAN
SOLUTION PUTS THE LOW A COUPLE HUNDRED MILES FARTHER NORTH. IN
BOTH CASES...PLACEMENT IS VERY CONSISTENT WITH SOLUTIONS FROM
YESTERDAY. WILL CONTINUE TO PUT GREATER WEIGHT ON THE
MAJORITY...WHICH BRINGS THE LOW ONSHORE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND
LIFTS IT NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS KERN COUNTY WEDNESDAY NIGHT. ECM/GFS
STILL BRING CONSIDERABLE MID LEVEL MOISTURE INTO THE SOUTHERN HALF
OF THE DISTRICT...ALONG WITH SEVERAL POTENT VORT MAXES TUESDAY NIGHT
THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING. DAY SHIFT DECISION TO EXTEND POPS INTO
ADJACENT PORTIONS OF THE KERN MOUNTAINS INTO SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF
THE TULARE COUNTY SIERRA LOOKS GOOD...AND WILL NOT ADJUST. LOW MOVES
EAST OF THE AREA LATER WEDNESDAY NIGHT...ENDING ALL PRECIP CHANCES.
UPPER LEVEL HEIGHTS THEN BUCKLE AS FLAT RIDGING REGIME ENSUES.
DRYER MID LEVELS COMBINED WITH WARMER TEMPS ALOFT SHOULD STRENGTHEN
LLVL INVERSION AND GIVE RISE TO DENSE FOG IN THE VALLEY. GIVEN TIME
OF YEAR...SOUTH END OF THE VALLEY WILL LIKELY EXPERIENCE QUITE A BIT
OF NIGHTTIME/MORNING CLOUDINESS THAT WILL BE STUBBORN TO ERODE
DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS EACH DAY. GRIDS ARE REFLECTIVE OF ALL
CONCERNS.

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY FOR
                                   THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM
                                   YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON ABOVE
                                   6000 FEET.

                                ...SNOW ADVISORY TODAY FOR THE
                                   TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS ABOVE
                                   6500 FEET.

&&

SANGER/BURGER

Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 9, 5:25 AM PST, 8 hours 35 minutes before

CAZ089>099-101300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
525 AM PST SUN NOV 9 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
INTERIOR.

.DAY ONE...TODAY.

A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA
FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON ABOVE 6000 FEET TODAY. A SNOW ADVISORY
IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS ABOVE 6500 FEET
TODAY. REFER TO SFOWSWHNX/ WWUS46 KHNX/ FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE CENTRAL AND
SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY TODAY AND EARLY THIS EVENING. ANY
THUNDERSTORMS MAY CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY DOWNPOURS...AND SMALL
HAIL.

ELSEWHERE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED TODAY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

PATCHY DENSE NIGHT AND MORNING VALLEY FOG WILL DEVELOP MONDAY NIGHT
AND TUESDAY MORNING...BECOMING MORE WIDESPREAD NIGHTS AND MORNINGS
BEGINNING TUESDAY NIGHT.

.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

2 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Fresno

When: November 9, 2:00 PM PST to 10:00 PM PST
Where: Fresno County, 11 mi ENE of Balch Camp
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 36.758, -119.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Fresno

When: November 9, 6:30 PM PST to 7:30 PM PST
Where: Fresno County, Mendota
Property damage: $10,000
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

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: 5371004, 5371003.