A Pacific storm arrived in Central California on November 8th. 37 inch of rain in only 10 minutes.
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.
A Pacific storm arrived in Central California on November 8th. Showers and thunderstorms developed over the San Joaquin Valley floor during the evening, with one thunderstorm dropping 0.37 inch of rain in only 10 minutes. Minor street flooding was reported in metro Fresno from this storm, possibly exacerbated by debris-clogged storm drains. This storm system also brought strong winds to the Kern County Mountains and deserts with peak wind gusts of 50-60 mph, especially in the favored passes and canyon areas.
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 Nov 8, 10:07 PM PST, 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 1007 PM PST SAT NOV 8 2008 .DISCUSSION...THE UPPER TROUGH IS DIGGING QUICKLY SOUTH OVER THE REGION AS UPPER LEVEL JET ENERGY DIVES SOUTH ALONG THE CALIFORNIA COAST. THE ASSOCIATED SURFACE FRONT IS PUSHING INTO THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE DISTRICT...NOW PASSING LOS BANOS...AND WILL PASS THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. RAINFALL AMOUNTS AHEAD OF THE FRONT HAD BEEN PRETTY SPARSE...BUT NOW THE BAND CURRENTLY PASSING OVER THE AREA HAS BEEN ENERGIZED BY THE UPPER LEVEL JET AND SOME LOCALLY MODERATE TO HEAVY PRECIPITATION HAS RECENTLY BEEN RECORDED. A LIGHTNING STRIKE OR TWO ALSO CANNOT BE RULED OUT OVER THE SIERRA AS THE COLD AIR ALOFT AND UPPER LEVEL ENERGY MOVE INTO THE REGION. SNOW LEVELS ARE CURRENTLY RUNNING AROUND 7500 FEET AND SHOULD NOT COME DOWN TOO MUCH FARTHER UNTIL THE BULK OF THE PRECIPITATION HAS ENDED. THE SYSTEM IS MOVING RATHER QUICKLY...AND SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS IN THE SIERRA SHOULD STAY MOSTLY BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA. THE NARROW BAND OF PRECIPITATION ALONG THE QUICKLY MOVING FRONT WILL BE THE END OF PRECIPITATION OVER THE AREA EXCEPT FOR LINGERING SHOWERS OVER THE MOUNTAINS SUNDAY MORNING. A SIGNIFICANT COOLDOWN IS IN STORE SUNDAY BEHIND THE FRONTAL SYSTEM...WITH TEMPERATURES FALLING TO A FEW DEGREES BELOW CLIMO. EXPECT A WARMUP TO BEGIN BY MIDWEEK AS HIGH PRESSURE REBUILDS OVERHEAD...WITH TEMPERATURES RETURNING TO SEVERAL DEGREES ABOVE SEASONAL AVERAGES. && .AVIATION...AREAS OF MVFR HZ/BR AND -RA IN THE CENTRAL AND SRN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...ALONG WITH LOCAL MVFR CIGS DEVELOPING WITH AND BEHIND FRONT AFT 06Z. BECOMING VFR AFTER 18Z. ELSEWHERE AREAS MVFR/IFR IN CIGS/PRECIP ACROSS THE MTNS THROUGH 18Z SUNDAY THEN BECOMING VFR THROUGH 06Z SUNDAY. VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED OVER THE DESERTS THROUGH 06Z SUNDAY. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES... NONE && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM PST SUNDAY FOR CAZ095-098-099. && PUBLIC...JEB AVN/FW...DUDLEY WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 207 PM PST SAT NOV 8 2008 CAZ095-098-099-092215- KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY- SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 207 PM PST SAT NOV 8 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO 10 PM PST SUNDAY EVENING. FOR MORE DETAILS SEE THE LATEST NON PRECIPITATION WARNING ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN HANFORD AT /WWUS76 KHNX/ OR /SFONPWHNX/. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THE WIND ADVISORY WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM PST SUNDAY NIGHT FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERT. FOR MORE INFO SEE THE LATEST NON PRECIPITATION WARNING ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN HANFORD AT /WWUS76 KHNX/ OR /SFONPWHNX/. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT OR UNUSUAL CONDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD TLM
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 strong wind, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
A strong thunderstorm produced 0.36 inches of rainfall in only 10 minutes. Minor street flooding was reported by a trained NWS spotter in the Clovis area. Clogged storm drains may have contributed to the street flooding. No damage was reported.
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, November 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: 143299, 143300, 143301, 143302.