High Wind in California, November 20 to 22, 2004

Name: High Wind in California, November 20 to 22, 2004
Start: 2004-11-20T17:10
End: 2004-11-22T03:10
Location: California

November 20 to 22, 2004 · NWS HNX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $100,000
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.

Late on the evening of the 20th northerly winds in excess of 50 MPH at several locations occurred in the Indian Wells Valley of Kern County. Into the morning of the 21st the winds shifted to northeast and developed a classic "Mono Wind" event (NE to SW offshore wind flow) through the Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains and Foothills in the vicinity of Yosemite. Trees were downed in the forests in and around El Portal and Foresta in Mariposa County with some property damage occurring due to the gusty wind in Madera County foothill communities of Oakhurst and Ponderosa Basin. During the morning hours of the 21st there were 3600 mountain customers without power due to downed power lines in at least 24 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 Nov 20, 4:24 PM PST, 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 20, 4:24 PM PST, 46 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
424 PM PST SAT NOV 20 2004

.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...UPPER LOW
OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HAS PRODUCED STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND SOME
SHOWERS OVER THE SIERRA AND IN THE KERN DESERTS. WINDS AND SHOWERS
OVER THESE AREAS HAVE BEEN TAPERING OFF AS THE LOW CONTINUES TO
SLIDE SLOWLY SOUTH. DESPITE CURRENT DOWNWARD TREND IN WINDS...UPPER
JET ROUNDING THE BACK SIDE OF THE LOW AND TIGHTENING SURFACE
PRESSURE GRADIENT IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE WINDS BACK TO ADVISORY
CONDITIONS OVERNIGHT. THUS EXTENDING THE CURRENT WAD THROUGH
TONIGHT. BY MONDAY MORNING THE LOW SHOULD BEGIN TO PULL AWAY AS THE
PACIFIC RIDGE BUILDS ALONG THE WEST COAST THROUGH WEDNESDAY. A FEW
MINOR SHORTWAVE TROUGHS PASSING OVER THE RIDGE SHOULD HAVE LITTLE
EFFECT ON THE AREA OTHER THAN BRINGING SOME PASSING HIGH CLOUDS.
AFTER LINGERING SLIGHT CHANCES FOR SHOWERS TONIGHT OVER THE SOUTHERN
SIERRA AND KERN COUNTY DESERTS AND MOUNTAINS...DRY WEATHER SHOULD BE
IN STORE THROUGH WEDNESDAY. AS THE WINDS LIGHTEN UP TONIGHT IN THE
VALLEY...SCATTERED FROST IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP BY MORNING AS
DEWPOINTS IN THE MID TO UPPER 20S WORK THEIR WAY SOUTHWARD THROUGH
THE VALLEY. THIS WILL WARRANT A FROST ADVISORY FOR THE VALLEY
TONIGHT INTO TOMORROW MORNING.

.LONG TERM...FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY...MEDIUM RANGE
MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT AND FORECAST 50H RIDGE CENTERED OVER THE
EASTERN PACIFIC TO DOMINATE PATTERN ACROSS CA THROUGH THURSDAY.
MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW GENERAL BREAKDOWN OF 50H RIDGE ALONG THE
WEST COAST LATE IN THE WEEK BUT DIFFER ON EXACT TRACK OF UPSTREAM
TROFS MOVING OUT OF THE GULF OF ALASKA. THE 00Z CANADIAN GLOBAL IS
BRINGS A SHARP TROUGH SOUTHWARD ALONG THE CA COAST FRIDAY. THE 12Z
UKMET AND ECMWF ARE ALSO INDICATING A TROUGH DROPPING DOWN INTO
CENTRAL CA FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. THE GFS AND THE 00Z RUNS OF
THE UKMET AND ECMWF TRACK THIS TROUGH AND SUCCESSIVE TROUGHS AS
INSIDE SLIDERS WITH A MORE GRADUAL BREAKDOWN OF THE 50H RIDGE OVER
CA FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. ENOUGH UNCERTAINTY WITH THIS PATTERN THAT
WILL KEEP THE CWFA DRY FOR NOW...EXCEPT FOR LESS THAN 10 PERCENT
POPS NEAR YOSEMITE FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. NIGHT AND
MORNING FOG AND LOW CLOUDS IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY WILL BE THE
BIGGEST FORECAST PROBLEM THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. THE APPROACHING TROUGH
ON FRIDAY COMES AS AN INSIDE SLIDER...IT WILL LIKELY WILL NOT BE
ENOUGH TO MIX FOG OUT OF THE VALLEY...BUT MAY LIFT IT INTO A STRATUS
DECK. INCREASING ONSHORE SFC PRESSURE GRADIENTS LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON
AND SATURDAY AND THE RESULTANT MIXING WINDS SHOULD SCOUR ANY LOW
CLOUDS OUT OF MOST OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...OR AT LEAST PUSH THEM
TO THE SOUTH END...EAST SIDE...AND ADJACENT FOOTHILLS SATURDAY.
LOCALLY STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS MAY AFFECT THE KERN CO MTNS AND
DESERT FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY AS WELL.

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WIND ADVISORY FOR THE KERN COUNTY
                                   DESERTS AND SIERRA NEVADA FROM
                                   YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON UNTIL
                                   600 AM MONDAY MORNING.
                                ...FROST ADVISORY FOR THE CENTRAL
                                   AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
                                   UNTIL 800 AM MONDAY MORNING.

&&

JEB/BEAN

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Indian Wells Vly

When: November 20, 5:10 PM PST to November 22, 3:10 AM PST
Where: Indian Wells Vly forecast zone
Measured: 84 kt (97 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, S Sierra Foothills

When: November 21, 10:10 AM PST to 6:10 PM PST
Where: S Sierra Foothills forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, S Sierra Mtns

When: November 21, 11:00 AM PST to 6:10 PM PST
Where: S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
Measured: 93 kt (107 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in California, November 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: 5428365, 5428367, 5428366.