Strong Wind, W Central S.J. Valley
- When
- January 1, 10:00 AM PST to 3:28 PM PST
- Where
- W Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
- Measured
- 47 kt (54 mph) measured gust
- Property damage
- $1,000
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Strong Wind in California, January 1, 2004
Pre-frontal southeast wind turned quite gusty and strong late in the morning of the 1st for portions of the Central San Joaquin Valley and immediately adjacent foothill locations.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $3,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 3
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.
Pre-frontal southeast wind turned quite gusty and strong late in the morning of the 1st for portions of the Central San Joaquin Valley and immediately adjacent foothill locations.
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 Jan 1, 4:00 AM PST, 6 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 1, 4:00 AM PST, 6 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
400 AM PST THU JAN 1 2004
.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...A STRONG PACIFIC
STORM IS ON THE DOOR STEP EARLY THIS MORNING. FAIRLY RAPID
DEVELOPMENT ON RADAR SINCE 2AM...AND MADE SOME QUICK LAST MINUTE
CHANGES TO GRIDS IN TIMING PRECIP. PRECIP STARTING ABOUT 6 HRS
FASTER THAN GFS OR ETA RH/OMEGA FIELDS INDICATED. SFC LOW NEARING
THE NORCAL COAST WILL MOVE INLAND INTO OREGON LATE MORNING. P-GRADS
WILL TIGHTEN ACROSS THE CENTRAL SJV AND ADJACENT SIERRA FOOTHILLS
DURING THE MORNING...WITH GFS SHOWING A 16MB GRAD FAT-RDD BY 18Z.
THIS WILL KICK THE WINDS UP FROM FRESNO CO NORTH...THEN DIMINISHING
WIND TOWARD SUNSET AS SFC QUICKLY MOVES INTO NRN ID. GFS SHOWS A
TEMPORARY LULL IN PRECIP OVERNITE TONITE WHILE ETA KEEP RH AND UVM
ALL NITE. KEPT HIGH POPS GOING AND DIDNT TRY TO FINESSE ANY BREAKS
IN PRECIP. ANOTHER SURGE OF MOISTURE AND PVA MOVE IN FRI...FOR
CONTINUED HIGH POPS. FRI SYS ALSO USHERS IN MUCH COLDER AIR...AND
SNOW LEVELS IN THE SRN SIERRA WILL DROP INTO THE FOOTHILL AREAS TO
ABOUT 3500 FT. PRECIP WINDING DOWN FRI NITE AS DRIER AIR MOVES IN
FROM THE NW. SNOW LEVELS FRI NITE NEAR 2500 FT...BUT SHOWERS WILL BE
LIGHT AND WIDELY SCATTERED BY THEN. SAT TO BE DRY BUT ON THE COOL
SIDE.
.LONG TERM...FOR SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...THE WEST COAST WILL BE
UNDER A NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT SUNDAY WITH THE RIDGE AXIS
OFFSHORE. THIS WILL KEEP SUNDAY A DRY DAY. PRECIP EXPECTED TO RETURN
TO THE DISTRICT FOR THE FIRST PART OF THE WEEK AS ZONAL FLOW
REDEVELOPS. MOISTURE TAKING AIM FOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND OREGON
AGAIN...BUT SOME LIGHT PRECIP COULD SPREAD SOUTH INTO THE NORTHERN
PORTION OF THE CWFA MONDAY AFTERNOON AND TUESDAY. MODELS SHOW THE
UPPER TROF SWINGING CLOSER TO THE WEST COAST BY WEDNESDAY FOR A
BETTER CHANCE OF PRECIP AS A MUCH DEEPER AREA OF MOISTURE MOVES
ACROSS THE DISTRICT. COLDER AIR PUSHING THROUGH ON SATURDAY WILL BE
MODIFIED BY SUNDAY TO RAISE THE SNOW LEVEL. TEMPERATURES DURING THE
EXTENDED PERIOD WILL BE ON A WARMING TREND AS 850-700MB TEMP/S AND
1000-500MB THICKNESS BOTH SHOW RISING VALUES.
.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA FROM YOSEMITE
PARK TO THE KERN COUNTY LINE THROUGH THIS EVENING...
...WIND ADVISORY FOR THE CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND THE
ADJACENT SIERRA FOOTHILLS TODAY...
&&
BINGHAM/CBHazardous weather outlook, Jan 1, 5:21 AM PST, 4 hours 39 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 521 AM PST THU JAN 1 2004 CAZ089-090-093-021300- WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS- 521 AM PST THU JAN 1 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND THE MARIPOSA...MADERA...AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS. .DAY ONE...TODAY A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND ADJACENT SIERRA FOOTHILLS TODAY. PLEASE REFER TO SFONPWHNX...WWUS76 KHNX...FOR FURTHER DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY 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. CAZ096-097-021300- SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- 521 AM PST THU JAN 1 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON AND THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS. .DAY ONE...TODAY A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON AND THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS TODAY THROUGH THIS EVENING. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE...WWUS46 KHNX...FOR FURTHER DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY 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. CAZ091-092-094-095-098-099-021300- SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS-KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY- SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 521 AM PST THU JAN 1 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...THE TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS...AND THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY 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
3 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong Wind, S Sierra Foothills
- When
- January 1, 10:00 AM PST to 3:28 PM PST
- Where
- S Sierra Foothills forecast zone
- Measured
- 36 kt (41 mph) measured gust
- Property damage
- $1,000
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Strong Wind, E Central S.J. Valley
- When
- January 1, 10:48 AM PST to 3:28 PM PST
- Where
- E Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
- Measured
- 34 kt (39 mph) measured gust
- Property damage
- $1,000
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
What these are
- Strong Wind
- Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Blizzard in Idaho, January 1 to 2, 2004
- Drought in Colorado, January 1 to 31, 2004
- Winter Storm in Montana, January 1 to 2, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, January 1 to 3, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Wyoming, January 1 to 2, 2004
- Winter Storm in Montana, January 1 to 2, 2004
- Winter Storm in Colorado, January 1 to 4, 2004
- Blizzard and Heavy Snow in California, January 1 to 2, 2004
- Winter Storm in Utah, January 1 to 4, 2004
- Drought in Utah, January 1 to 31, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Washington, January 1 to 2, 2004
- Blizzard and Heavy Snow in Oregon, January 1, 2004
More
Every storm in California in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 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: 5380376, 5380378, 5380377.