Debris Flow and Heavy Rain in California, April 24, 2005

Name: Debris Flow and Heavy Rain in California, April 24, 2005
Start: 2005-04-24T03:27
End: 2005-04-24T08:00
Location: California

April 24, 2005 · NWS HNX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

4" occurred in the mountain areas of Tulare County and Kern County of Interior Central California early on the 24th. A rockslide occurred in the Kern Canyon area east-northeast of Bakersfield due to the locally heavy rain.

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

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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.

Relatively heavy rain up to 1.4" occurred in the mountain areas of Tulare County and Kern County of Interior Central California early on the 24th. A rockslide occurred in the Kern Canyon area east-northeast of Bakersfield due to the locally heavy rain.

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 Apr 24, 2:30 AM PST, 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 24, 2:30 AM PST, 57 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
330 AM PDT SUN APR 24 2005

.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...THE UPPER-LEVEL
VORTICITY DEEPENED INTO A SECONDARY LOW THAT MOVED OVER KERN COUNTY
LATE SATURDAY NIGHT...BRINGING PRECIPITATION TO KERN...KINGS AND
TULARE COUNTIES. THE RAWS AT UHL HAS RECORDED OVER AN INCH OF RAIN
SINCE 05Z...WITH OTHER RAWS GAUGES IN THE KERN AND TULARE COUNTY
MOUNTAINS REPORTING UP 3/4 INCH SO FAR...WITH RAIN STILL FALLING.
HAVE ISSUED A SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY FOR THE KERN AND TULARE
MOUNTAINS BELOW 6500 FEET...INCLUDING THE FOOTHILLS...UNTIL 16Z.

SATELLITE LOOPS SATURDAY MORNING HAD SUGGESTED THAT THE DEEPENING
VORTICITY WAS LIKELY TO TRACK A BIT NORTH OF THE 00Z/06Z MODEL
SOLUTIONS...BUT IT ENDED UP EVEN FURTHER NORTH THAN EXPECTED.
OTHERWISE...THE MODELS HAVE HAD A GOOD HANDLE ON THE UPPER-LEVEL
TROUGH AS IT MOVED INTO CALIFORNIA SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
THE TROUGH AXIS IS FORECAST TO MOVE EAST OF THE HANFORD WARNING/
FORECAST AREA BY 12Z...WITH THE LOW MOVING INTO UTAH BY 00Z MONDAY.
ACCORDINGLY...HAVE REDUCED POPS CONSIDERABLY FOR MY VALLEY AND
DESERT ZONES THIS AFTERNOON AND DROPPED MOUNTAIN POPS TO SLIGHT
CHANCE...AND REMOVED ALL POPS FROM THIS EVENING.

THE MODELS ARE IN AGREEMENT WITH AN UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE MOVING OVER
CALIFORNIA TONIGHT AND PERSISTING THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING...BEFORE
WEAKENING AS THE NEXT EAST-PACIFIC UPPER-LEVEL LOW APPROACHES THE
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST. THIS WILL BRING DRY AND WARMER WEATHER
FOR MONDAY AND TUESDAY.

.LONG TERM...FOR TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...MEDIUM RANGE
MODELS TIMING THE ONSET OF THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM RIGHT AT THE
BEGINNING OF THE LONG TERM. ALL MODELS EXCEPT THE GFS TIME THE
PRECIP INTO THE DISTRICT AFTER 12Z ON WEDNESDAY. WHILE THE GFS DOES
NOT INDICATE WIDESPREAD PRECIP OVER THE DISTRICT AT 12Z ON
WEDNESDAY...ITS DOES SHOW THE ONE ONE-HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH LINE
ALONG THE COASTAL RANGE. THEREFORE...WILL MAINTAIN THE CURRENT
WORDING IN THE FORECAST AND ALLOW THE RETURN OF THE WET WEATHER
OVER INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA TO START AROUND DAY-BREAK. IN
ADDITION...MODELS CONTINUE TO PLACE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA UNDER THE
LEFT FRONT QUAD OF A +100KT JET MAX...WITH GOOD DIFFLUENCE ALOFT
FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON TO WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON OVER THE CWFA.
THEREFORE...WILL SEE DYNAMICS COME INTO PHASE TO PROVIDE GOOD LIFT
DURING THE TIME IN QUESTION. AFTERWARD...THE THURSDAY TIME FRAME
WILL SEE A CONTINUATION OF UNSETTLED CONDITIONS AS MODELS SHOW THE
VORT MAX APPROACHING AND PUSHING THROUGH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. THE
POTENTIAL FOR PRECIP WILL PEAK OUT DURING THIS TIME FRAME BEFORE
TAPERING OFF TOWARD THE WEEKEND. BY FRIDAY...WILL ALLOW THE
POTENTIAL FOR PRECIP TO START A DECREASING TREND AS LINGERING
SHOWERS MAY UNDER CYCLONIC FLOW. MODELS THEN SHIFT THE UPPER LOW
EAST ON SATURDAY WITH RIDGING RETURNING TO THE WEST. WILL MAINTAIN A
DRY FORECAST FOR SATURDAY.

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY FOR
     THE KERN AND TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS BELOW 6500 FEET...INCLUDING
     THE FOOTHILLS...UNTIL 9 AM THIS MORNING.

&&

WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD /USE ALL LOWER CASE/

SANGER/MOLINA

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 23, 9:31 AM PST, 17 hours 56 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
1031 AM PDT SAT APR 23 2005

CAZ095>097-241200-
KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-
TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
1031 AM PDT SAT APR 23 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AND
THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

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.

CAZ089>094-098-099-241200-
WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS-TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS-
INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
1031 AM PDT SAT APR 23 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN
JOAQUIN VALLEY AND ADJACENT FOOTHILLS...AND THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. THOUGH SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED...SOME STORMS MAY
PRODUCE SMALL HAIL...GUSTY WINDS...AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

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.

DCH

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, 1 debris flow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Tulare

When: April 24, 3:27 AM PST to 8:00 AM PST
Where: Tulare County, 2 mi E of California Hot Spgs
Measured: 1.38
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 36.220, -118.800 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Debris Flow, Kern Cty Mtns

When: April 24, 3:27 AM PST to 8:00 AM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Heavy Rain, Kern

When: April 24, 3:27 AM PST
Where: Kern County, 12 mi W of Tehachapi
Measured: 0.99
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 35.343, -118.730 (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.
Debris Flow: A fast-moving slurry of mud, rock and debris, usually on a slope soaked by heavy rain or stripped by a fire.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in California, April 2005

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: 5446664, 5446665, 5446666.