High pressure built back into California on February 16th, warming temperatures to near to a few degrees above normal. Temperatures continued to warm through the 18th, ahead of a series of three Pacific storms that moved through the central California interior from February 20th through the 24th.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS HNX wrote it up.
High pressure built back into California on February 16th, warming temperatures to near to a few degrees above normal. Temperatures continued to warm through the 18th, ahead of a series of three Pacific storms that moved through the central California interior from February 20th through the 24th.
The storms brought a mix of rain, mountain snow, and thunderstorms to the region. As the first storm moved into central California, a severe thunderstorm developed southwest of Lake Isabella during the late morning (1030 PST) of February 20th, with nickel-size hail reported near the town of Havilah. Other thunderstorms developed over the southern San Joaquin Valley shortly after noon, but did not reach severe levels. As the cold front moved through the Kern County deserts during the afternoon of the 20th, it generated wind gusts of 45 to 55 mph.
Heavy snow occurred in most sections of the Southern Sierra Nevada on the 21st and the morning of the 22nd. Estimated snowfall ranged from about 6 inches to 15 inches above roughly 6000 feet across the Southern Sierra Nevada.
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 20, 9:00 AM PST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 900 AM PST WED FEB 20 2008 .DISCUSSION...DEEP MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH AN UPPER LOW PRESSURE CENTER CURRENTLY CENTERED OVER THE BAY AREA BROUGHT A GOOD SUPPLY OF RAINFALL TO OUR AREA OVERNIGHT. MOST REPORTING STATIONS IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTH VALLEY HAVE PICKED UP BETWEEN A QUARTER AND HALF AN INCH OF RAINFALL WITH SOME HIGHER ELEVATION LOCATIONS PICKING UP NEARLY THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH OF LIQUID EQUIVALENT. SNOW LEVELS WERE BETWEEN 5500 AND 6000 FEET OVERNIGHT AND ARE EXPECTED TO LOWER AROUND 500 FEET AS SOME CAA TAKES PLACE BEHIND THE LOW AS IT MOVES OVER OUR ARE LATER THIS MORNING THEN EAST OF OUR AREA BY THIS AFTERNOON. KHNX 88D IS INDICATING SCATTERED SHOWERS OVER OUR AREA WITH THE GREATEST COVERAGE OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS EAST OF KINGS CANYON. EXPECT SNOWFALL TOTALS FROM THIS SYSTEM TO REMAIN BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA BUT WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE SOME LOCATIONS IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS PICK UP ANOTHER 2 TO 3 INCHES OF NEW SNOWFALL. OF GREATER CONCERN TODAY IS STRENGTHENING SURFACE P-GRADS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AS THE BACK SIDE OF THE LOW MOVES OVER THE KERN MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. 12Z WRF INDICATING P-GRADS UP TO 6.5 MB BETWEEN KBFL AND KDAG WHICH WILL SUPPORT LOCALIZED WIND GUSTS NEAR ADVISORY CRITERIA...ESPECIALLY NEAR WIND PRONE AREAS SUCH AS MOJAVE AND BEAR VALLEY. FOR NOW HAVE DECIDED TO HOLD OFF ON ISSUING AN ADVISORY AND WILL USE NOWCASTS TO EMPHASIZE LOCALLY STRONG WINDS...BUT WILL MONITOR THE SITUATION CAREFULLY AS THE DAY MOVES ALONG. TEMPS LOOKS TO BE ON TRACK TO REACH FORECASTED MAX/S TODAY AND AM NOT PLANNING ANY UPDATES THIS MORNING. WILL INSTEAD USE NOWCASTS TO HIGHLIGHT THE SHOWER ACTIVITY IN THE VALLEY AND FOOTHILL AREAS. 12Z WRF/NGM/GFS ALL INDICATE SHORTWAVE RIDGING OVER CA TONIGHT WHICH WILL BRING A BREAK IN THE PRECIPITATION TO OUR AREA BEFORE ANOTHER SHORTWAVE SYSTEM SPREADS MOISTURE AND UVM INTO OUR AREA BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF RAIN AND HIGHER ELEVATION SNOW WHICH WILL AFFECT OUR AREA THROUGH FRIDAY THEN A POTENTIALLY STRONGER SYSTEM PUSHES THROUGH THE AREA LATE SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING. MEDIUM RANGE PROGS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT IN BUILDING A DRY UPPER RIDGE OVER OUR AREA ON MONDAY WHICH WILL BRING DRY AND MILD CONDITIONS TO OUR AREA THROUGH AT LEAST THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION...SCATTERED SHOWERS MOVING THROUGH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA WILL KEEP MVFR AND LOCAL IFR CIGS AND VSBYS TO THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND ADJACENT FOOTHILLS THROUGH 20Z...THEN IMPROVING TO VFR. LOCAL MVFR CONDITIONS IN FOG ARE POSSIBLE FROM 08Z TO 18Z THURSDAY. IN THE MOUNTAINS...MVFR WITH AREAS OF IFR CIGS AND VSBYS IN PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE THROUGH 03Z THURSDAY BEFORE IMPROVING. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES...NONE. && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && PUBLIC: DS AVIATION/FIRE WX: MENDENHALL WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 312 AM PST WED FEB 20 2008 CAZ089>092-211200- WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- 312 AM PST WED FEB 20 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT 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 THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. TLM WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 528 AM PST WED FEB 20 2008 CAZ089>099-202000- 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- 528 AM PST WED FEB 20 2008 ...RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW WILL CONTINUE OVER THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR THIS WEEK... THE LATEST IN A SERIES OF STORM SYSTEMS BROUGHT LOCAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OVER ONE HALF INCH ACROSS THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR OVERNIGHT...WITH A FEW INCHES OF SNOW ACCUMULATING ABOVE 5500 FEET IN THE MOUNTAINS. ADDITIONAL SCATTERED SHOWERS MAY DEVELOP THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AS A COLD UNSTABLE AIRMASS MOVES OVER THE REGION. GUSTY WINDS WILL INCREASE ACROSS THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERT THIS AFTERNOON AS THE SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH THE REGION. THE NEXT STORM IS FORECAST TO MOVE INTO THE REGION THURSDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUE INTO FRIDAY. ADDITIONAL VALLEY RAINFALL AMOUNTS MAY BE AROUND A QUARTER OF AN INCH FROM THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY MORNING....WITH NEW AMOUNTS ABOVE 6000 FEET OF 8 TO 12 INCHES. A SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK TO KINGS CANYON MAY BE NEEDED WITH THIS SYSTEM. THE FINAL...AND POTENTIALLY STRONGEST...SYSTEM WILL REACH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA SATURDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUING THROUGH SUNDAY. SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM THIS STORM. SNOW LEVELS MAY FALL INTO THE SIERRA FOOTHILLS AND BELOW THE PASS LEVELS OF THE TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS BY SUNDAY. ALTHOUGH THE LATEST PROJECTIONS INDICATE THAT THE HEAVIEST SNOW WILL REMAIN NORTH OF KERN COUNTY...EVEN LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ON HIGHWAY 58 THROUGH THE TEHACHAPI PASS...HIGHWAY 178 THROUGH WALKER PASS...AND INTERSTATE 5 OVER THE GRAPEVINE COULD IMPACT TRAVEL FROM THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR YOUR FAVORITE NEWS SOURCE...FOR UPDATES ON THIS SITUATION. WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 strong wind, 1 hail, 1 winter storm, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
A public report of nickel-size hail was relayed by a TV meteorologist from near Lake Isabella.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2008
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: 84945, 84947, 84948, 84950, 84952.