Dust Storm and Damaging Winds in California, September 20, 2005

Name: Dust Storm and Damaging Winds in California, September 20, 2005
Start: 2005-09-20T16:15
End: 2005-09-20T18:00
Location: California

September 20, 2005 · NWS HNX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: $10,000
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.

Outflow from afternoon thunderstorms raised numerous areas of blowing dust on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Visibility dropped to only 100 feet in the Fresno County community of San Joaquin while several areas from Hanford west to the the Avenal-Coalinga area of Kings-Fresno County experienced lowered visibility in dust and/or heavy rain. Navy Lemoore reported a west-southwest wind gust to 38 knots. Cotton crop damage was reported on the Fresno-Kings County line from thunderstorm southerly high wind along with smaller hail and very 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 Sep 20, 2:13 PM PST, 2 hours 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 20, 2:13 PM PST, 2 hours 2 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
313 PM PDT TUE SEP 20 2005

.SHORT TERM FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...PRECIPITATION
BAND ACROSS THE DISTRICT HAS BEEN EDGING EASTWARD DURING THE DAY
AND IS NOW MAINLY AFFECTING THE EASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERTS. THE
UPPER LOW IS BEGINNING TO MOVE INLAND ALONG THE CENTRAL COAST AND
ISOLATED/SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE BEGINNING TO ERUPT IN THE
DESTABILIZING AIRMASS OVER THE VALLEY. SLIGHT CHANCES FOR CONVECTION
WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT AS THE LOW TRACKS ACROSS THE AREA...WITH THE
BEST CHANCES IN THE MOUNTAINS. DRIER AND SLIGHTLY WARMER WEATHER IS
EXPECTED WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...WITH TEMPERATURES RUNNING RIGHT
AROUND SEASONAL NORMS...IN GENERALLY ZONAL FLOW BEHIND THE
DEPARTING SYSTEM. THE NEXT APPROACHING UPPER TROUGH WILL DROP INTO
THE NORTHWEST US FRIDAY...COOLING TEMPERATURES BY A FEW DEGREES.

.LONG TERM...FOR FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS
ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT IN FORMING A CLOSED LOW OVER NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA ON FRIDAY NIGHT AND THEN HAVING THE LOW SLOWLY MOVING
INTO THE GREAT BASIN ON SUNDAY. A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE IS THEN
PROGGED BY BOTH THE GFS AND ECMWF TO REMAIN OVER THE REGION ON
MONDAY. THIS TROUGH IS PROGGED TO SHIFT EAST OF THE AREA ON TUESDAY
WITH RIDGING BECOMING REESTABLISHED PER THE GFS MODEL. IN THIS
PATTERN, MAY SEE SOME SHOWERS IN THE SIERRA ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY,
BUT THE MAIN AFFECT WILL BE BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES. THE MEX
GUIDANCE FROM THE GFS MODES HAS LOTS OF MID AND UPPER 70S ON
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY WITH WARMING BY TUESDAY.

&&

.AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS SHOULD PREVAIL THROUGH AT LEAST 18Z
WEDNESDAY...ALTHOUGH A CUTOFF LOW ALONG THE COAST WILL PROVIDE
INCREASING AMOUNTS OF MID LEVEL CLOUDS THROUGH THE EVENING AND INTO
TONIGHT. SPECIFIC DETAILS CAN BE FOUND IN THE TAFS FOR KMCE...KFAT
AND KBFL.

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.

&&

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

JEB/DUDLEY

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 20, 4:00 AM PST, 12 hours 15 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...COR
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
500 AM PDT TUE SEP 20 2005

CAZ089>099-211200-
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-
KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-
TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-
SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
500 AM PDT TUE SEP 20 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR.

.DAY ONE...TODAY.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH THIS
EVENING. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE FAIRLY FAST MOVING SO NO A LOT OF
RAINFALL IS EXPECTED. HOWEVER DUE TO THE FAST MOVEMENT...LOCALLY
GUSTY WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO PRODUCE
DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING.

THE LOW PRESSURE AREA RESPONSIBLE FOR THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE
EAST DURING THE NIGHT TONIGHT...ENDING THE THUNDERSTORM THREAT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY.

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS TO THEIR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

BINGHAM

The radar

The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 50 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:54 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 dust storm, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Dust Storm, W Central S.J. Valley

When: September 20, 4:15 PM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: W Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Dust Storm, Sw S.J. Valley

When: September 20, 4:30 PM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Sw S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)

Thunderstorm Wind, Kings

When: September 20, 4:55 PM PST to 5:10 PM PST
Where: Kings County, 6 mi WNW of Kettleman City
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 36.033, -120.067

Thunderstorm Wind, Fresno

When: September 20, 5:00 PM PST to 5:15 PM PST
Where: Fresno County, 10 mi SSE of Huron
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Crop damage: $10,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 36.067, -120.033

What these are

Dust Storm: Blowing dust that reduced visibility to a quarter mile or less.
Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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, September 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: 5475519, 5475520, 5475521, 5475522.