There was a break in the weather during most of the day of December 18th, but the next storm arrived during the late afternoon and continued overnight and into the next day. 37 inch of rain.
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.
There was a break in the weather during most of the day of December 18th, but the next storm arrived during the late afternoon and continued overnight and into the next day. By the time midnight arrived, Bakersfield had recorded a record 1.37 inch of rain. Even more rain fell the next day at Meadows Field, shattering rainfall records. These additional rains caused aggravated flooding to occur in parts of the San Joaquin Valley, especially in Metro Bakersfield.
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 Dec 22, 2:40 PM PST, 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 240 PM PST WED DEC 22 2010 .SYNOPSIS... SHOWERY PRECIPITATION REMAINS AS THE LATEST AND LAST OF THE WEEKLY SERIES OF STORMS EXITS THE AREA TO THE EAST. ANOTHER WEAK SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO ARRIVE CHRISTMAS DAY BRINGING LIGHT RAIN IN THE VALLEY AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW TO THE SIERRAS. && .DISCUSSION... PRECIPITATION CONTINUING OVER THE DISTRICT THIS EVENING WITH COOLER AIR NOW FILTERING INTO THE REGION. SNOW LEVELS HAVE LOWERED TO NEAR 5000 FEET OVER THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS WITH ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATION EXPECTED EARLY THIS EVENING. WILL EXTEND THE WINTER WEATHER PRODUCTS FOR THE MOUNTAINS UNTIL 8 PM PST AS LINGERING SHOWERS CONTINUE. FRONTAL SYSTEM SLOWLY MOVING ONSHORE WITH SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWING THE COLD AIR STILL OFFSHORE. WHILE THE THREAT OF THUNDERSTORM HAS BEEN MINIMAL TODAY...SOME CLEARING ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE VALLEY COULD SUPPORT LATE AFTERNOON CONVECTION. WILL NOT RULE OUT THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS...EVEN WITH THE AMOUNT OF CLOUD COVER OVER MUCH OF THE DISTRICT TODAY. CURRENT PRECIP-WATER SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWING THE BULK OF THE HIGHER MOISTURE CONTINUING TO SHIFT INTO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WITH DRIER AIR DROPPING FROM THE NORTHWEST. THEREFORE...WILL TREND TOWARD DRYING THE DISTRICT THROUGH SATURDAY. WITH DEW POINTS IN THE 50S TODAY...FOG MAY BECOME A FACTOR UNDER CLEARING SKIES...EVEN UNDER A WELL MIXED ATMOSPHERE. WHILE WIDESPREAD DENSE FOG MAY BE DIFFICULT TO OBTAIN...PATCHY FOG WITH VISIBILITIES A MILE OR MORE IS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION. WILL MENTION PATCHY OVERNIGHT FOG THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING...WITH BETTER POTENTIAL FOR DENSE FOG ON FRIDAY MORNING AND SATURDAY MORNING. CURRENT LONGER RANGE MODELS ARE NOW TIMING THE NEXT STORM FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING. MODELS SHOW THIS NEXT STORM AS A FAST MOVING COLDER STORM COMPARED TO THE STORM WE SEEN FOR THE PASS WEEK. MODELS SHOW 850MB TEMP DROPPING TO NEAR 2-3 DEG-C ACROSS THE SIERRA NEVADA AND TEHACHAPI RANGE TOWARD SUNDAY MORNING WHICH COULD TRANSLATE IN SNOW LEVELS OF 4000 TO 5000 FEET DURING THE EVENT. AGAIN...MODELS SHOW A PROGRESSIVE SYSTEM WITH PRECIP ENDING LATER ON SUNDAY FOR A RETURN OF FOG BY MONDAY MORNING. YET...MODELS THEN SHOW A WEAK SHORT-WAVE TROUGH MOVING THROUGH THE REGION ON MONDAY WHICH MAY PREVENT WIDESPREAD FOG ON MONDAY. AFTERWARD...RIDGE WILL EXIST OVER THE REGION DURING THE EXTENDED PERIOD UNTIL CLOSE TO WEDNESDAY. WILL KEEP A MENTION OF A SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIP AT THE END OF THE PERIOD DUE TO THE HIGH UNCERTAINTY ON THE TIMING OF NEXT WEEK/S STORM. && .AVIATION... MVFR WITH AREAS OF IFR AND MOUNTAIN OBSCURATION OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA...TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS...AND ADJACENT FOOTHILLS THROUGH 18Z THURSDAY. LCL MVFR AND ISOLD IFR IN SHOWERS/TSTORMS ACROSS THE CENTRAL/SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND THE KERN COUNTY DESERT THRU 00Z THURSDAY...THEN AREAS OF MVFR CIGS AND VSBYS IN MIST THROUGH 18Z THURSDAY. CONDITIONS IMPROVING TO VFR THROUGHOUT THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR AFTER 18Z THURSDAY. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES... NONE. && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 8 PM PST THIS EVENING ABOVE 5000 FEET FOR THE CAZ095-097. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM PST THIS EVENING CAZ096. FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT PST TONIGHT CAZ098-099. && PUBLIC...MOLINA AVN/FW...BEAN SYNOPSIS...PJ WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 1017 AM PST WED DEC 22 2010 CAZ095-097-231830- KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- 1017 AM PST WED DEC 22 2010 ...SNOW AND WIND... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TULARE AND KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM PST ABOVE 5000 FEET. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY MORE SIGNIFICANT SNOW IS POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY NIGHT AS A STRONG PACIFIC STORM MOVES INTO THE AREA. .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. CAZ098-099-231830- INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 1017 AM PST WED DEC 22 2010 ...FLASH FLOOD... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .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. CAZ096-231830- SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON- 1017 AM PST WED DEC 22 2010 ...SNOW AND RAIN... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON FOR HEAVY SNOW ABOVE 5000 FEET. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY MORE SIGNIFICANT SNOW IS POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY NIGHT AS A STRONG PACIFIC STORM MOVES INTO THE AREA. .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. CAZ089>092-231830- WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- 1017 AM PST WED DEC 22 2010 ...THUNDER... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .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.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY CA
237 PM PST WED DEC 22 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0800 AM HEAVY SNOW TUOLUMNE MEADOWS 37.87N 119.36W
12/21/2010 M77.0 INCH TUOLUMNE CA PARK/FOREST SRVC
PARK OFFICIALS REPORTED STORM TOTAL FOR THE DEC 17-20
STORM...MEASURED AT TUOLOMNE MEADOWS
&&
JBROThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Aggravated street and subdivision flooding was reported by the media in the NW part of Bakersfield.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 2010
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: 275820.