Heavy Rain, Kern
- When
- February 23, 5:00 PM PST to 5:20 PM PST
- Where
- Kern County, Weldon
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 35.343, -118.730 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Debris Flow and Heavy Rain in California, February 23, 2005
75" of rain fell in a 20 minute time period late in the afternoon of the 23rd. A 4" accumulation of small hail at State Highway 178 and Sierra Way was also received in the Lake Isabella area.
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.
Continued shower activity brought locally heavy rain to the Kern County Mountains just east of Lake Isabella where 0.75" of rain fell in a 20 minute time period late in the afternoon of the 23rd. A 4" accumulation of small hail at State Highway 178 and Sierra Way was also received in the Lake Isabella area. Heavy rain in Mariposa County resulted in a rockslide near Savage's Trading Post on Highway 140.
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 Feb 23, 3:00 PM PST, 2 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 23, 3:00 PM PST, 2 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA 300 PM PST WED FEB 23 2005 .SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...UPPER LOW IS TRACKING INLAND NEAR NORTHERN BAJA. SCATTERED SHOWERS HAVE BEEN OCCURRING OVER THE KERN DESERTS AND MOUNTAINS IN EASTERLY FLOW AROUND THE TOP OF THE LOW...WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS ELSEWHERE OVER THE DISTRICT AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE WEST SIDE OF THE VALLEY. REX BLOCK OVER THE WESTERN US WILL GRADUALLY DEVOLVE THROUGH SATURDAY WITH THE WEAKENING LOW DRIFTING EAST AND NORTH AND A RIDGE BUILDING ALONG THE WEST COAST. WITH THE WEAK LOW NEARBY...A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR PRECIPITATION WILL LINGER OVER THE ENTIRE AREA THROUGH TOMORROW...CONTINUING OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. MODELS SUGGEST INSTABILITY CONTINUING TOMORROW AFTERNOON SUFFICIENT FOR A FEW POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS IN THE VALLEY. TEMPERATURES SHOULD REMAIN SEASONABLY MILD THROUGH THE PERIOD. .LONG TERM...FOR SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...MEDIUM RANGE PROGS AGREE IN BREAKING DOWN THE SHORT LIVED UPPER RIDGE DOWN BY SUNDAY AS A NEGATIVELY TILTED UPPER TROUGH APPROACHES THE CA COAST. THERE IS POOR MODEL AGREEMENT AND RUN TO RUN CONSISTENCY WITH REGARDS TO THE AMPLITUDE...STRENGTH AND TIMING OF THIS INCOMING SYSTEM SO CONFIDENCE IS RATHER LOW FOR THIS PERIOD. SINCE THE WESTERN CONUS HAS BEEN IN A MERIDIONAL PATTERN...BELIEVE THAT THE 00Z GFS IN PARTICULAR IS TOO FAST WITH THE TIMING OF THIS SYSTEM. THE 12Z GFS AND GEM ARE SIGNIFICANTLY SLOWER. WILL THEREFORE KEEP SATURDAY NIGHT DRY AND LIMIT POPS TO SLIGHT CHANCE ON SUNDAY. DO EXPECT DEEPER MOISTURE TO PUSH INTO CENTRAL CA BY SUNDAY NIGHT WHICH WILL BRING BETTER CHANCES FOR RAIN AND HIGHER ELEVATION SNOW TO THE AREA. THE TROUGH IS EXPECTED TO SLOWLY CROSS THE STATE EARLY NEXT WEEK...BUT THERE IS MODEL DISCREPANCY ON TIMING. WILL OPT TO KEEP CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION GOING MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY UNTIL THE MODELS GET A BETTER HANDLE ON THIS PERIOD. WILL KEEP TEMPS CLOSE TO GUIDANCE AND WITH THE CONTINUED PRESENCE OF A MOIST ATMOSPHERE OVER CENTRAL CA. MIN/S WILL BE SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL AND MAX/S SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL AS WE MOVE INTO MARCH. && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && JEB/DS WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD /ALL LOWER CASE/
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 23, 5:00 AM PST, 12 hours before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 500 AM PST WED FEB 23 2005 CAZ095>099-241300- KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON- TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY- SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 500 AM PST WED FEB 23 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO THE KERN COUNTY LINE...THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS... THE INDIAN WELLS VALLEY...AND THE SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY 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>094-241300- 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- 500 AM PST WED FEB 23 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...AND THE ADJACENT SIERRA NEVADA FOOTHILLS. .DAY ONE...TODAY THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO DEVELOP MAY PRODUCE FREQUENT LIGHTNING...BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL...GUSTY WINDS...AND SMALL HAIL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY AFTERNOON. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE PERIOD 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.
Event by event
1 heavy rain, 1 debris flow. Local standard time, as filed.
Debris Flow, S Sierra Foothills
- When
- February 23, 5:03 PM PST
- Where
- S Sierra Foothills forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
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
- Lightning Strike and Heavy Rain in Georgia, February 23, 2005
- Hail in Texas, February 23, 2005
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Louisiana, February 23, 2005
- Flash Flood in California, February 23, 2005
- Hail in Texas, February 23 to 24, 2005
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, February 23, 2005
- Hail in Texas, February 23, 2005
- Hail in Oklahoma, February 23, 2005
- Winter Storm in New Mexico, February 23, 2005
- Winter Weather in Illinois, February 23 to 24, 2005
- Hail in Mississippi, February 23, 2005
- Hail in Arizona, February 23, 2005
More
Every storm in California in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 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: 5442286, 5442287.