Flash Flood, Kern
- When
- July 23, 2:23 PM PST to 5:35 PM PST
- Where
- Kern County, 1 mi W of Cantil
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 35.300, -117.983
Flash Flooding in California, July 23, 2005
Monsoonal moisture swept northwestward into the south half of California early in the morning of the 23rd and lingered through the 24th. On the 23rd the deserts and mountain areas of Kern County received locally heavy rain from thundershowers that resulted in numerous areas of desert stream flows.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. 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
- 4
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.
Monsoonal moisture swept northwestward into the south half of California early in the morning of the 23rd and lingered through the 24th. On the 23rd the deserts and mountain areas of Kern County received locally heavy rain from thundershowers that resulted in numerous areas of desert stream flows. Radar estimates indicated 1-hour precipitation amounts of 2-3 inches and storm totals in excess of 4 inches. At Big Pine 0.68" of rain occurred in 15 minutes with a storm total of 1.16." Flooding was reported along Highway 14 near Redrock-Randsburg Road by 1423 PST. Subsequent flooding was reported along Redrock-Randsburg Road to Garlock by 1625 PST. Additional flooding occurred west of Mojave on Willow Springs Road.
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 Jul 23, 1:33 PM PST, 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 23, 1:33 PM PST, 50 minutes before
AREA FORE THIS AFTERNOON...ANYTHING THAT DOES DEVELOP TO THE SOUTH COULD DRIFT INTO THE DISTRICT...AND BECOMES SOMEWHAT STATIONARY UNDER THE DEFORMATION ZONE. TEMPERATURE WISE...CONDITIONS REBOUNDED NICELY AS MUCH OF THE LOWER ELEVATIONS WERE REACHING INTO THE 90S AS OF 200 PM. WITH THE RIDGE BECOMING DOMINATE ONCE AGAIN...WILL EXPECT MANY LOWER ELEVATIONS SITES TO REACH BACK INTO THE CENTURY MARK. SUNDAY WILL SEE THE CONTINUATION FOR THE THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS AS MODELS ATTEMPT TO PUSH THE MOISTURE DEEPER INTO THE DISTRICT. MODELS HOLD THE ELONGATED RIDGE PATTERN IN PLACE FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. THEREFORE... TEMPERATURES SHOW A RISING TREND AT THE 850MB LEVEL GOING INTO SUNDAY AND REMAIN STEADY ON MONDAY. AS FOR VALLEY AND DESERT TEMPERATURES...WILL EXPECT A RETURN TO ABOVE CENTURY MARK READINGS THROUGH MONDAY. .LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...A RELATIVELY STAGNANT PATTERN WILL PERSIST OVER THE CWA THRU DAYS 4-7 AS THE UPPER RIDGE RE-ORIENTS OVER THE FOUR-CORNERS REGION WITH WEAK TROUGHINESS LINGERING NEAR 130W. EVENTUAL LOCATION OF UPPER HIGH CENTER WILL DETERMINE STRENGTH OF SE FLOW ALOFT AND EXTENT OF MOISTURE ADVECTION NORTHWARD INTO THE CWA...OTHERWISE A DRY PATTERN WILL CONT WITH TEMPS REMAINING ABOVE NORMAL AND NORMAL SUMMER-TIME WINDS PREVAILING THRU THE PERIOD. && .AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST FOR ALL AREAS THROUGH 00Z MONDAY. REFER TO TAFS AT KMCE...KFAT...AND KBFL FOR DETAILS. && .HNX...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS THROUGH THIS EVENING. && WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD /USE ALL LOWER CASE/ MOLINA/JSN
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 23, 4:00 AM PST, 10 hours 23 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 500 AM PDT SAT JUL 23 2005 CAZ095-098-099-241200- KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY- SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 500 AM PDT SAT JUL 23 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. .DAY ONE...TODAY. THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS TODAY. SOME STORMS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL...AND THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS MAY ALLOW FOR FLASH FLOODING. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS FROM NOON PDT UNTIL 900 PM PDT TODAY. SEE WGUS66 KHNX - SFOFFAHNX FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE SUNDAY AND MONDAY. OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TODAY. WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. CAZ089>094-096-097-241200- 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- SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- 500 AM PDT SAT JUL 23 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTH SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS AND ADJACENT FOOTHILLS. .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... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. DS
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
4 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash Flood, Kern
- When
- July 23, 3:28 PM PST to 5:35 PM PST
- Where
- Kern County, 1 mi S of Garlock
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 35.383, -117.783
Flash Flood, Kern
- When
- July 23, 3:47 PM PST to 5:35 PM PST
- Where
- Kern County, 10 mi WSW of Mojave
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 35.000, -118.333
Flash Flood, Kern
- When
- July 23, 4:25 PM PST to 5:35 PM PST
- Where
- Kern County, 2 mi SW of Cantil
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 35.283, -118.000
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.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lightning Strike in Alabama, July 23, 2005
- Rip Current in South Carolina, July 23, 2005
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, July 23, 2005
- Heat in Mississippi, July 23 to 27, 2005
- Flash Flood and Hail in Wisconsin, July 23, 2005
- Flash Flood and Hail in Minnesota, July 23, 2005
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, July 23, 2005
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, July 23, 2005
- Damaging Wind in Arizona, July 23, 2005
- Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, July 23, 2005
- Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, July 23, 2005
- Tornado and Flash Flood in California, July 23, 2005
More
Every storm in California in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 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: 5466634, 5466635, 5466636, 5466637.