Flash Flood and Lightning Strikes in California, April 14, 2006

Name: Flash Flood and Lightning Strikes in California, April 14, 2006
Start: 2006-04-14T14:00
End: 2006-04-14T20:00
Location: California

April 14, 2006 · NWS HNX · 6 events in 3 counties and zones

Sierra Nevada Foothills resulted in high stream flows throughout the area. A mudslide in the Shaver Lake area occurred late in the afternoon on the 14th from the rainfall.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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.

Heavy rain (up to 1.5" in a couple of hours) associated with thunderstorms in the Fresno County and Madera County portions of the S.Sierra Nevada Foothills resulted in high stream flows throughout the area. A mudslide in the Shaver Lake area occurred late in the afternoon on the 14th from the rainfall.

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 14, 2:00 PM PST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 14, 2:00 PM PST, 0 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
300 PM PDT FRI APR 14 2006

.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...UPPER TROF MOVG
INTO THE LAX BASIN EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. STRONG DIFLUENT FLOW HAS
SET UP ACROSS THE CENTRAL CA INTERIOR....HELPING TO TRIGGER ISOLD
TSTMS. TROF AXIS WILL BE EAST OF THE AREA BEFORE SUNSET AND THAT
WILL END MUCH OF THE PRECIP THREAT. A FAIRLY WEAK SHORTWAVE TROF
WILL MOVE IN FROM THE WEST TONIGHT...KEEPING A LINGERING THREAT OF
LIGHT SHOWERS...ESPECIALLY MTNS. ON SAT...NEXT PAC TROF WILL MOVE
TOWARD THE WEST COAST SAT. PRECIP WITH THIS TROF WILL BE MAINLY
NORTH OF CENTRAL CA EXCEPT FOR A FEW SHOWERS AROUND YOSEMITE. ON SAT
NITE AND SUN...THE JET AXIS WITH THIS TROF WILL GRADUALLY SAX SOUTH
INTO CENTRAL CA. THIS WILL BRING AN INCREASING THREAT OF PRECIP
NORTH OF KERN CO FOR SUN...ESPECIALLY FROM FRESNO NORTH WHERE RAIN
IS LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THIS SYS WILL MOVE OFF TO
THE EAST SUN NITE. THIS WILL ALLOW RIDGING TO TAKE PLACE ALONG THE
WEST COAST FOR THE FIRST TIME IN QUITE A WHILE...ALONG WITH WARMING
TEMPS.

.LONG TERM...FOR MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...EXPECT DRY NORTHWEST
FLOW MONDAY NIGHT BEHIND THE EXITING UPPER TROUGH...WITH
TEMPERATURES WARMING TO NEAR OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE CLIMO FOR TUESDAY
THROUGH THURSDAY AS A SHORTWAVE RIDGE BUILDS OVERHEAD. GFS CONTINUES
TO SHOW A WEAK IMPULSE PUSHING THROUGH THE RIDGE ACROSS CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY AS THE RIDGE SHIFTS SLOWLY
EAST. THIS FEATURE SHOULD HAVE LITTLE EFFECT OTHER THAN PERHAPS SOME
INCREASE IN CLOUDS. BY FRIDAY...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS INDICATE ANOTHER
TROUGH APPROACHING THE WEST COAST...WITH A POSSIBLE CLOSED LOW
FORMING SOMEWHERE OFF THE CENTRAL/SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST. THIS
COULD BRING A CHANCE FOR PRECIP TO THE DISTRICT FOR NEXT WEEKEND.
FOR NOW THE FORECAST FOR SLIGHT CHANCE POPS OVER THE SIERRA FRIDAY
LOOKS GOOD.

&&

.AVIATION...EXPECT AREAS OF MVFR ACROSS THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
INTERIOR THROUGH TONIGHT DUE TO SCATTERED SHOWERS...WITH SOME
OBSCURATION OF HIGHER TERRAIN. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE
LOCAL IFR/LIFR CONDITIONS OVER VALLEY AND FOOTHILL LOCATIONS THROUGH
THIS EVENING. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS INTERIOR
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA THROUGH 00Z SUN. FOR SPECIFIC DETAILS...PLEASE
REFER TO TAFS FOR KMCE...KFAT AND KBFL.

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...FLOOD WARNING FOR THE SAN JOAQUIN
     RIVER BELOW FRIANT DAM.

&&

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

BINGHAM/JEB

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 14, 4:00 AM PST, 10 hours before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
500 AM PDT FRI APR 14 2006

CAZ093>099-151200-
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 FRI APR 14 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE FOOTHILLS AND HIGHER
ELEVATION OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA...AND THE KERN COUNTY
MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS TO THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
OFFICE.

CAZ089>092-151200-
WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
500 AM PDT FRI APR 14 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN
JOAQUIN VALLEY.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS TO THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
OFFICE.

MORSE

The radar

The San Francisco radar (KMUX), 105 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:42 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 funnel cloud, 2 lightning, 1 flash flood, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, Merced

When: April 14, 2:00 PM PST to 2:28 PM PST
Where: Merced County, Atwater
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 37.192, -120.718 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning, Fresno

When: April 14, 2:38 PM PST to 3:00 PM PST
Where: Fresno County, (Fat) Air Terminal
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 36.758, -119.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Funnel Cloud, Madera

When: April 14, 2:41 PM PST to 2:42 PM PST
Where: Madera County, 5 mi S of Coarsegold
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 37.218, -119.763 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Fresno

When: April 14, 3:45 PM PST to 4:45 PM PST
Where: Fresno County, Shaver Lake
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.150, -119.283

Heavy Rain, Madera

When: April 14, 5:00 PM PST to 8:00 PM PST
Where: Madera County, Coarsegold
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.218, -119.763 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning, Fresno

When: April 14, 5:20 PM PST
Where: Fresno County, 4 mi SW of (Fat) Air Terminal
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 36.758, -119.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
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.
Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in California, April 2006

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: 5501998, 5501940, 5501999, 5501939, 5501996, 5501997.