A cold, unstable airmass settled into central California on May 22nd, bringing showers to the Southern Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi Mountains, with measurable snow falling below 5000 feet in the Tehachapis, and down to 6500 feet in the Southern Sierra Nevada. During the morning of the 23rd, showers drifted north from the Tehachapi Mountains into the south end of the San Joaquin Valley.
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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.
A cold, unstable airmass settled into central California on May 22nd, bringing showers to the Southern Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi Mountains, with measurable snow falling below 5000 feet in the Tehachapis, and down to 6500 feet in the Southern Sierra Nevada. During the morning of the 23rd, showers drifted north from the Tehachapi Mountains into the south end of the San Joaquin Valley. By midday, these showers had moved as far north as Bakersfield, where a record-breaking 0.08 inch of rain fell at Meadows Field. This was the first measurable rain to fall in Bakersfield since February 24th, ending an 87-day period without measurable rain. The next day, Fresno recorded its first measurable rain since March 15, ending a 69-day period with no measurable rain. The storm brought the only measurable rains for the month to Bakersfield (storm total: 0.08 inch) and Fresno (0.30 inch). The rain did keep Bakersfield from solely having the driest March-May period on record; the 0.08 inch for the period tied March-May 1992 for the driest spring.
Heavy rain also occurred at Oakhurst in Madera County, where brief heavy rain caused minor flooding of local streets and ditches.
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 27, 1:30 PM PST, 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 230 PM PDT TUE MAY 27 2008 .DISCUSSION...A WEATHER SERVICE EMPLOYEE IN THE FIELD REPORTED A MODERATE SHOWER NEAR OAKHURST AROUND 18Z. UPDATED THE FORECAST TO ADD SLIGHT CHANCE TO CHANCE POPS TO THE FOOTHILLS THIS AFTERNOON AND INCREASE POPS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA. SATELLITE LOOPS SHOW AN UPPER-LEVEL VORTICITY MOVING OVER THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST AT 19Z. THE NAM-12 DEPICTS THIS AS A +39 VORTICITY CENTER AT 500 MB...BUT IS A BIT FASTER MOVING THE VORTICITY ACROSS THE CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY THAN SATELLITES SHOW. A LATE MORNING SPOTTER REPORT RELAYED BY WFO MONTEREY OF SPRINKLES OVER SAN BENITO COUNTY INDICATED SHOWERS WERE FORMING OVER THE COASTAL RANGE AS THE VORTICITY MOVES ONSHORE. THESE SHOWERS DEVELOPED RAPIDLY AS THEY MOVED OFF THE COASTAL RANGE AND INTO WESTERN FRESNO COUNTY. THE FIRST LIGHTNING STRIKE IN THE HANFORD WARNING/FORECAST AREA WAS DETECTED IN MARIPOSA COUNTY BETWEEN 2000-2015Z...WITH SEVERAL LIGHTNING STRIKES FROM MONO COUNTY NORTH INTO NORTHWESTERN NEVADA. AS THE AIRMASS OVER THE REGION WILL CONTINUE TO BE UNSTABLE OVER THE REGION PAST SUNSET...HAVE ADDED A LATE AFTERNOON PERIOD FOR A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...AS WELL AS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF EVENING THUNDERSTORMS TO THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE VORTICITY. GIVEN THAT THE MODELS WERE A BIT UNDERDONE WITH THE CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL FOR TODAY...HAVE A SIMILAR CONCERN FOR WEDNESDAY AND HAVE INCREASED POPS OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA A BIT...AND EXTENDED SOUTH INTO KERN COUNTY FOR THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE GOES WATER-VAPOR LOOP SHOWS THE UPPER-LEVEL LOW WEST OF THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST WITH THE TROUGH EXTENDING SOUTH TO 30N. THE 12Z MODELS FORECAST THE TROUGH TO MOVE INTO CALIFORNIA THURSDAY AS ANOTHER UPPER-LEVEL LOW FORMS WEST OF THE WASHINGTON COAST. THE TROUGH ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LOW IS FORECAST TO DEEPEN ALONG 137W FRIDAY. WITH THE TROUGH ALONG THE CALIFORNIA COAST THROUGH THURSDAY...EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO REMAIN SEVERAL DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY HIGHS WILL BE MAINLY IN THE MID TO UPPER 70S...AND COULD BE AROUND 10 DEGREES UNDER CLIMATOLOGY. THIS TROUGH IS FORECAST TO REACH 130W BY 06Z SUNDAY. AHEAD OF THE TROUGH...TEMPERATURES WILL RISE A FEW DEGREES DAILY. THE GFS... UKMET AND DGEX FORECAST THE TROUGH TO MOVE ONTO THE CALIFORNIA COAST BY 00Z MONDAY...BUT THE ECMWF KEEPS THE TROUGH OFFSHORE BUT BECOMING TILTED AS THE PARENT LOW REACHES THE WASHINGTON COAST. HPC EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION FAVORS THE ECMWF SOLUTION...SO HAVE WARMED TEMPERATURES OVER THE REGION A FEW DEGREES MONDAY AND TUESDAY FROM THE PREVIOUS FORECAST WITH PRE-FRONTAL WARMING AHEAD OF THE TROUGH. && .AVIATION...AN UPPER LOW OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST WILL BRING MID LEVEL CLOUDS RESULTING IN AREAS OF MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS OVER THE SIERRA. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP EACH AFTERNOON OVER THE MOUNTAINS POSSIBLY LASTING UNTIL 06Z EACH EVENING. VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL IN THE HIGH DESERT THROUGH 00Z THURSDAY. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES... NONE. && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && PUBLIC...SANGER AVN/FW...MV WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rain fell near Oakhurst, causing minor flooding. A Madera County Sheriff station reported significant standing water on local roads near Oakhurst, but no flowing water. The Oakhurst (DW0273) station reported 0.57 inches of rain in less than 1 hour.
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, May 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: 109451.