Flash Flood, Kern
- When
- August 13, 3:43 PM PST to 6:45 PM PST
- Where
- Kern County, 2 mi W of Cantil
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 35.343, -118.730 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood and Damaging Wind in California, August 13, 2004
A severe thunderstorm developed north of Edwards AFB late in the afternoon the 13th with wind gusts measured above 60 knots some distance from the cell. Locally heavy rain from the cell also produced desert flash flooding between Mojave and Inyokern in the Kern County Desert.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
- 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.
A severe thunderstorm developed north of Edwards AFB late in the afternoon the 13th with wind gusts measured above 60 knots some distance from the cell. Locally heavy rain from the cell also produced desert flash flooding between Mojave and Inyokern in the Kern County Desert. Flooding affected Highway 14 as reported by California Highway Patrol.
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 Aug 13, 1:35 PM PST, 2 hours 8 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 13, 1:35 PM PST, 2 hours 8 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA 235 PM PDT FRI AUG 13 2004 .SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...AGAIN ANOTHER ACTIVE AFTERNOON OVER THE MTNS/DESERTS. WHILE THE INDIVIDUAL STORMS DONT LAST TOO LONG...THEY ARE SLOW TO MOVE. RADAR ESTIMATES INDICATE A FEW AREAS OF .25-.50 INCHES PER HOUR...MOSTLY NEAR OR ON THE CREST OF THE SIERRA. LIGHTER AMOUNTS NOTED IN KERN MTNS/DESERTS...HOWEVER ESTIMATES JUST EAST OF THE KERN LINE IN SBD COUNTY NEARING 1 INCH PER HOUR. EXPECT ACTIVITY TO CONT INTO THE EVE THE GRADUALLY DIMINISH. OVERALL...THE PATTERN IS SHOWING VERY LITTLE CHANGE...OTHER THAN A SLOW WEAKENING OF THE UPPER RIDGE. SHOULD BE A COUPLE OF DEGS COOLING MOST AREAS SAT...THEN STATUS QUO SUN AND MON. WHILE THE ATMO REMAINS RELATIVELY MOIST AND UNSTABLE SAT...IT DOES DRY OUT SOME SUN AND MON. WILL LEAVE DESERTS AND TEHACHAPIS DRY SUN AND MON...BUT CONT WITH SLIGHT CHANCES OVER THE SIERRA BOTH DAYS AS H7 MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY CHANGES LITTLE AND H7 WINDS NEVER COMPLETELY LOOSE THEIR SE COMPONENT. .LONG TERM...FOR MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE IN FAIR AGREEMENT THROUGH THE PERIOD ALTHOUGH SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT FROM EARLIER RUNS. A DEEP UPPER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IN THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL REMAIN QUASI-STATIONARY TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY BEFORE BEING EJECTED EASTWARD BY THURSDAY. AS THIS SYSTEM SHIFTS ONSHORE OVER CANADA...HIGHER PRESSURE BUILDING OVER THE WESTERN STATES WILL BRING A WARMING TREND ONCE AGAIN DURING MID WEEK. THIS WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES MOSTLY ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THE OUTLOOK PERIOD. WITH THE UPPER TROF REMAINING OFFSHORE THROUGH WEDNESDAY AND FARTHER NORTH DURING THE END OF THE WEEK...THE INCREASING SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WHICH WAS EARLIER ANTICIPATED IS NOT EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AS STRONG. MOISTURE OVER THE SIERRA NEVADA WILL NOW LIKELY LINGER WITH A GENERALLY LIGHT WIND PATTERN ALOFT WITH CONTINUED WEAK INSTABILITY. THEREFORE...HAVE ADDED A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE MOUNTAINS EACH DAY DURING THE EXTENDED PERIOD. && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && BINGHAM/GREISS
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 13, 5:53 AM PST, 9 hours 50 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 653 AM PDT FRI AUG 13 2004 CAZ089>092-141200- WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- 653 AM PDT FRI AUG 13 2004 .DAY ONE...TODAY ENOUGH SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE HAS MOVED INTO THE REGION FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS. ANY THUNDERSTORM WHICH DEVELOPS WILL CONTAIN DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND MAY CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. CAZ093-094-141200- MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS-TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS- 653 AM PDT FRI AUG 13 2004 .DAY ONE...TODAY ENOUGH SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE HAS MOVED INTO THE REGION FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS. ANY THUNDERSTORM WHICH DEVELOPS WILL CONTAIN DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND MAY CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE FOOTHILLS SATURDAY...OTHERWISE NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. CAZ095-141200- KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS- 653 AM PDT FRI AUG 13 2004 .DAY ONE...TODAY ENOUGH SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE HAS MOVED INTO THE REGION FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS. ANY THUNDERSTORM WHICH DEVELOPS WILL CONTAIN DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND MAY CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS SATURDAY...OTHERWISE NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. CAZ096-097-141200- SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- 653 AM PDT FRI AUG 13 2004 .DAY ONE...TODAY ENOUGH SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE HAS MOVED INTO THE REGION FOR A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS. ANY THUNDERSTORM WHICH DEVELOPS WILL CONTAIN DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND MAY CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA SATURDAY...OTHERWISE NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. CAZ098-099-141200- INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 653 AM PDT FRI AUG 13 2004 .DAY ONE...TODAY ENOUGH SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE HAS MOVED INTO THE REGION FOR A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS...DECREASING TO A SLIGHT CHANCE IN THE EVENING. ANY THUNDERSTORM WHICH DEVELOPS WILL CONTAIN DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND MAY CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS SATURDAY...OTHERWISE NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. SANGER
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm Wind, Kern
- When
- August 13, 4:54 PM PST to 5:25 PM PST
- Where
- Kern County, Edwards Afb
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 34.917, -117.900
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Hurricane in Florida, August 13, 2004
- Tornado in North Carolina, August 13, 2004
- High Wind in Florida, August 13, 2004
- High Wind in Florida, August 13, 2004
- Hurricane in Florida, August 13, 2004
- Tropical Storm in Florida, August 13, 2004
- Tropical Storm in Florida, August 13, 2004
- Flash Flood in Arizona, August 13, 2004
- Tornado in Florida, August 13, 2004
- Tornadoes in North Carolina, August 13, 2004
- Hurricane in Florida, August 13, 2004
- Tornadoes in Florida, August 13, 2004
More
Every storm in California in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in California, August 2004
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: 5412029, 5412028.