High Wind and Strong Wind in California, March 29 to 31, 2009

Name: High Wind and Strong Wind in California, March 29 to 31, 2009
Start: 2009-03-29T13:00
End: 2009-03-31T23:59
Location: California

March 29 to 31, 2009 · NWS HNX · 7 events in 6 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $3,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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.

South winds developed over the Tehachapi Mountains on March 27th, and downsloped into the south end of the San Joaquin Valley. Temperatures warmed to well above normal, with Bakersfield reaching a high of 85 degrees. The low at Meadows Field on the 27th was 56 degrees, which was just 1 degree from the record high minimum temperature for the date (57 degrees in 1978). The winds subsided during the night as an upper-level ridge of high pressure moved over the San Joaquin Valley. This ridge brought continued well-above-normal temperatures to the Valley on March 28th. Fresno had a high of 81 degrees, the first 80-degree day since November 18th, 2008. Bakersfield warmed to 87 degrees, just missing a 106-year-old record high of 88, set in 1893. The 87 degrees at Meadows Field was the warmest day in March for Bakersfield. Likewise, Fresno’s 81 degrees was its warmest day for the month.|An upper-level disturbance tracked across the Pacific Northwest during the night of March 28th-29th, then dropped into the Great Basin. Although this disturbance did not bring any precipitation to the region, it did bring gusty winds to the Kern County|mountains and deserts on the 29th, and even some locally gusty winds to the San Joaquin Valley during the afternoon and evening. Gusts to around 40 mph were widespread across the San Joaquin Valley floor, and gusts in the mountains and deserts were between 45 and 50 mph.|March ended with a dry upper-level disturbance moving into the Pacific Northwest and California. This disturbance brought another round of gusty west winds to the Kern County mountains and deserts during the evening of the 31st, with winds gusting between 40 and 50 mph.

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 Mar 29, 8:32 AM PST, 4 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 29, 8:32 AM PST, 4 hours 28 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
932 AM PDT SUN MAR 29 2009

.UPDATE...SATELLITE WATER VAPOR IMAGERY REVEALS THE UPPER TROUGH
MOVING SOUTHEAST OVER THE GREAT BASIN THIS MORNING. THE ONSHORE
SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT HAS RAMPED UP TO 14 MB FROM SFO-LAS AND
IS PROGGED TO INCREASE FURTHER TO AROUND 18 MB BY LATE AFTERNOON.
IR SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS A WELL DEFINED LEE SIDE CIRRUS SHIELD
EAST OF THE KERN MOUNTAINS INDICATIVE OF STRONG WINDS. SOME RAWS
OBSERVATIONS IN THE TYPICAL WIND PRONE AREAS THERE HAVE REPORTED
A FEW STRONG GUSTS AROUND 50 MPH. BREEZY CONDITIONS ARE OCCURRING
OVER PARTS OF THE KERN DESERT AND SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AS WELL...BUT
REMAIN BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS. A SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT REMAINS
IN EFFECT HIGHLIGHTING THESE GUSTY CONDITIONS. WILL CONTINUE TO
MONITOR CLOSELY THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON FOR THE POSSIBLE NEED
OF A WIND ADVISORY. THE PRESSURE GRADIENT IS EXPECTED TO RAPIDLY
WEAKEN LATE THIS EVENING AND WINDS WILL SUBSEQUENTLY DIMINISH
CONSIDERABLY OVERNIGHT. OTHERWISE...THE TROUGH PASSAGE WILL RESULT
IN MAX TEMPERATURES SEVERAL DEGREES LOWER TODAY THAN YESTERDAY
BUT STILL ABOVE CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMS.

&&

.FROM PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...THE EAST-PACIFIC RIDGE IS FORECAST
TO BUILD BACK ONTO THE COAST TONIGHT AND REMAIN OVER THE REGION
THROUGH MIDWEEK. THE 00Z MODELS ARE IN BETTER CONSENSUS THIS
MORNING WITH THE NEXT SHORT-WAVE RIDING OVER THE RIDGE TUESDAY
AND STAYING WELL EAST OF THE HANFORD WARNING/ FORECAST AREA.

THERE IS FINALLY SOME GOOD MODEL AGREEMENT CONCERNING THE UPPER-
LEVEL TROUGH FORECAST TO MOVE INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST THURSDAY.
THE TROUGH IS FORECAST TO MOVE THROUGH CALIFORNIA THURSDAY NIGHT
WITH THE TROUGH AXIS EAST OF THE STATE BY 18Z FRIDAY. PER
COLLABORATION WITH WFO/S RENO AND SACRAMENTO...HAVE INCREASED
POPS ALONG THE SIERRA CREST TO SLIGHT CHANCE CATEGORY FOR THURSDAY
NIGHT.

THE UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS BACK INTO CALIFORNIA FRIDAY NIGHT AND
AMPLIFIES SATURDAY IN RESPONSE TO A TROUGH DIGGING ALONG 140W. THIS
TROUGH IS FORECAST TO APPROACH THE WEST COAST NEXT SUNDAY...BUT THE
TROUGH AXIS IS FORECAST TO STILL BE OFFSHORE BY 00Z ON APRIL 6TH

&&

.AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA INTERIOR THROUGH 18Z MONDAY.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
NONE

&&

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

PUBLIC...DCH/SANGER
AVN/FW...BINGHAM

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 29, 1:00 PM PST, 0 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
200 PM PDT SUN MAR 29 2009

CAZ089>092-095-098-099-300300-
WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-
SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
200 PM PDT SUN MAR 29 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM PDT THIS EVENING. FOR MORE
DETAILED INFORMATION PLEASE SEE THE LATEST NON PRECIPITATION
STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN HANFORD
/SFONPWHNX/ OR /WWUS76 KHNX/.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.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.

BSO

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Event by event

6 strong wind, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Strong Wind, Kern Cty Mtns

When: March 29, 1:00 PM PST to 8:00 PM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Measured: 44 kt (51 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $500
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind, Indian Wells Vly

When: March 29, 1:00 PM PST to 8:00 PM PST
Where: Indian Wells Vly forecast zone
Measured: 44 kt (51 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $500
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind, Se Kern Cty Desert

When: March 29, 1:00 PM PST to 8:00 PM PST
Where: Se Kern Cty Desert forecast zone
Measured: 44 kt (51 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $500
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind, W Central S.J. Valley

When: March 29, 1:50 PM PST to 8:00 PM PST
Where: W Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Measured: 37 kt (43 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $500
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind, E Central S.J. Valley

When: March 29, 1:50 PM PST to 8:00 PM PST
Where: E Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Measured: 37 kt (43 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $500
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind, Sw S.J. Valley

When: March 29, 1:50 PM PST to 8:00 PM PST
Where: Sw S.J. Valley forecast zone
Measured: 37 kt (43 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $500
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind, Se Kern Cty Desert

When: March 31, 5:56 PM PST to 11:59 PM PST
Where: Se Kern Cty Desert forecast zone
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

What these are

Strong Wind: Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.
High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in California, March 2009

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: 162316, 162317, 162318, 162313, 162314, 162315, 162319.