Heavy Rain, Mariposa
- When
- May 15, 10:00 PM PST to May 16, 9:00 AM PST
- Where
- Mariposa County, Countywide
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 37.582, -119.905 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood and Heavy Rain in California, May 15 to 16, 2005
After a persistent and longer-than-normal cool season, significantly heavy rain occurred onto the large Southern Sierra Nevada snowpack beginning late in the evening of the 15th and continued into the morning of the 16th. 75" in the mountain areas combined with a snowmelt runoff contribution of about 1" water equivalent caused river flooding on the Yosemite Valley floor in Yosemite National Park.
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
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.
After a persistent and longer-than-normal cool season, significantly heavy rain occurred onto the large Southern Sierra Nevada snowpack beginning late in the evening of the 15th and continued into the morning of the 16th. With snow levels above 7000 feet, rainfall amounts averaging 1.75" in the mountain areas combined with a snowmelt runoff contribution of about 1" water equivalent caused river flooding on the Yosemite Valley floor in Yosemite National Park. The Merced River rose 3 feet between 0100 and 0500 PST on the morning of the 16th prompting park personnel to evacuate campers in Yosemite Valley. The Merced River on the Yosemite Valley Floor rose above its Flood Stage of 10.0 feet by 0645 PST and subsequently crested at 12.5 feet at 1430 PST on the 16th forcing park personnel to even close roads into the Yosemite Valley.
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 May 15, 8:49 PM PST, 1 hour 11 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 15, 8:49 PM PST, 1 hour 11 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA 949 PM PDT SUN MAY 15 2005 .SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...UPPER TROUGH IS NEARING THE NORTHWEST US COAST AS LATEST IMPULSE ROTATES THROUGH THE BOTTOM OF THE TROUGH. WEAKENING FRONT IS LIMPING INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA PRECEDED BY AN AREA OF CLOUDS AND RAIN...SHOWING UP AS ECHOES ON RADAR AS FAR SOUTH AS MADERA. SO FAR MOST OF THE RAINFALL IMPLIED BY RADAR OVER OUR CENTRAL VALLEY ZONES HAS NOT BEEN REACHING THE GROUND. LATEST MODELS PUSH PRECIPITATION FARTHER SOUTH...THROUGH KERN COUNTY LATE TONIGHT AND TOMORROW MORNING. AT THIS TIME WITH SOME RATHER DRY AIR IN PLACE IT LOOKS UNLIKELY THAT KERN COUNTY LOCATIONS WOULD SEE MORE THAN A SPRINKLE OR TWO. THUS WILL MAINTAIN CURRENT FORECAST...KEEPING PRECIPITATION CHANCES NORTH OF KERN COUNTY. KERN MOUNTAINS AND DESERT AREAS ARE BEGINNING TO SEE LOCALLY GUSTY WINDS AS MENTIONED IN THE FORECAST. WINDS SHOULD INCREASE FURTHER BY AFTERNOON TOMORROW ON THE BACKSIDE OF THE PASSING TROUGH. NO UPDATE IS PLANNED FOR CURRENT FORECAST AT THIS TIME .LONG TERM...PREVIOUS DISCUSSION FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY...AN UPPER LEVEL LOW OFF THE BRITISH COLUMBIA COAST WILL BRING A COLD FRONT ALONG WITH A LONG FETCH DEEP MOISTURE INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WEDNESDAY NIGHT. MODEL TREND IS LESS PROGRESSIVE AS UPPER LEVEL ENERGY MOVING ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE LOW DELAYS THE ADVANCE OF THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. WILL MAINTAIN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION IN THE NORTH SECTORS OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND NORTH OF KINGS CANYON IN THE SIERRA FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON INTO FRIDAY. GFS BRINGS STRONGER DYNAMICS INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA THURSDAY NIGHT. SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS MAY DEVELOP ALONG THE SIERRA FRIDAY WITH SOME INSTABILITY AND REMNANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE. A WARM AND DRY TREND FOR THE WEEKEND AS A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE REBUILDS OVER THE REGION. && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD /USE ALL LOWER CASE/ JEB/MV
Hazardous weather outlook, May 15, 2:08 PM PST, 7 hours 52 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 308 PM PDT SUN MAY 15 2005 CAZ089>094-096-097-161200- 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- 308 PM PDT SUN MAY 15 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO THE KERN COUNTY LINE...AND THE ADJACENT FOOTHILLS. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY 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. CAZ095-098-099-161200- KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY- SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 308 PM PDT SUN MAY 15 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE 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...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING INCREASING WINDS TO THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS ON MONDAY. A WIND ADVISORY MAY BE REQUIRED FOR THESE AREAS MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT. 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
2 heavy rain, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Rain, Madera
- When
- May 15, 10:00 PM PST to May 16, 9:00 AM PST
- Where
- Madera County, Countywide
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 37.218, -119.763 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood, S Sierra Mtns
- When
- May 16, 6:45 AM PST to 3:00 PM PST
- Where
- S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Reported by
- PARK/FOREST SERVICE
What these are
- Heavy Rain
- Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Texas, May 15, 2005
- Flooding in Nevada, May 15 to 31, 2005
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Virginia, May 15, 2005
- Flash Flooding in Texas, May 15, 2005
- Hail in North Carolina, May 15, 2005
- Hail in Colorado, May 15, 2005
- Hail in Colorado, May 15, 2005
- Flood in Alaska, May 15 to 19, 2005
- Flash Flood in Texas, May 15, 2005
- Hail in New Mexico, May 15, 2005
- Hail in South Carolina, May 15, 2005
- Waterspout in Gulf of Mexico, May 15, 2005
More
Every storm in California in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in California, May 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: 5449076, 5449077, 5449075.