Heavy Rain, Merced
- When
- February 23, 5:00 PM PST to 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- Merced County, Merced
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 37.300, -120.480
Deep water reported on Westside Blvd at Howard due to heavy rainfall.
Winter Storm and Heavy Rain in California, February 23 to 24, 2010
An upper-level ridge built into California during the afternoon of February 22nd, but was quickly weakened as yet another Pacific storm approached the California coast. This storm brought locally heavy rain to Merced County during the afternoon of February 23rd, with minor street flooding reported in western Merced County during the evening hours.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 4
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.
An upper-level ridge built into California during the afternoon of February 22nd, but was quickly weakened as yet another Pacific storm approached the California coast.
This storm brought locally heavy rain to Merced County during the afternoon of February 23rd, with minor street flooding reported in western Merced County during the evening hours. The storm moved east and southeast overnight, with heavy rainfall moving into Madera and Fresno. Rainfall totals for the central and southern San Joaquin Valley included:
3.15 inches at Collins Corner|2.99 inches at Chowchilla|0.96 inch at the Madera Municipal Airport|0.89 inch at the Merced Municipal Airport|0.78 inch at Fresno|0.62 inch at N.A.S. Lemoore|0.56 inch at Visalia|0.50 inch at the Hanford Municipal Airport|0.48 inch at the Porterville Municipal Airport|0.40 inch at Avenal|0.04 inch at Bakersfield
Precipitation over the San Joaquin Valley tapered off from the west during the morning of February 24th, although a few residual showers developed during the afternoon. High pressure aloft returned to California on the 25th, only to give way to another storm late in the afternoon the next day.
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 Feb 23, 3:43 PM PST, 1 hour 17 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 23, 3:43 PM PST, 1 hour 17 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 343 PM PST TUE FEB 23 2010 .SYNOPSIS... INCREASING CLOUDS TODAY AHEAD OF STORM SYSTEM THAT WILL BRING RAIN AND HIGHER ELEVATION SNOW TO THE AREA TONIGHT AND TOMORROW. PARTIAL CLEARING ON THURSDAY BEFORE NEXT SERIES OF STORMS MOVE IN OVER THE WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION... RAIN HAS SPREAD ACROSS OUR NWRN CWA THIS AFTERNOON AND WITH MRSBL PRECP EXPECTED FROM YOSEMITE SW TO FAR WRN KERN COUNTY BY DARK. PERIODS OF RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OVERNIGHT AND INTO WED MORNING AS PLENTY OF FORCING EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE AREA. AS BROAD FRONTAL LIFT WANES WEDNESDAY MORNING THERE MAY BE A BRIEF BREAK IN PRECIP BUT STRONG JET DYNAMICS COME INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THEREFORE WE EXPECT ADDITIONAL WIDESPREAD PRECIP TO REFORM INTO THE AFTN HRS IN MOST AREAS...AND SPREAD FURTHER SOUTH TO IMPACT EVEN THE FAR SOUTH VALLEY AROUND BAKO. SHOWERY PRECIP SHOULD CONTINUE IN THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING AS STRONG NWLY FLOW IMPACTS THE MTN REGIONS. GUSTY WINDS ARE EXPECTED LATE TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY AS FRONTAL ZONE MOVES THROUGH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. WHILE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS THERE MAY BE SOME GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE VALLEY...TRANSITIONING BY WED AFTN DOWN THROUGH THE KERN DESERTS. WILL HOLD OFF ON ISSUING ANY WIND PRODUCTS SINCE IT LOOKS MARGINAL AT BEST ATTM. STRONG WINDS IN THE SIERRA ARE ALSO EXPECTED WITH GUSTS LIKELY UP TO 60 MPH IN THE HIGH COUNTRY...THIS IS COVERED WITH OUR WINTER STORM WARNING WHICH CONTINUES THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON FOR THE SIERRA ZONES. S/W RIDGING IMPACTS THE REGION ON THURSDAY BRINGING AN END TO THE PRECIP...HWVR A STRONGER AND COLDER STORM WILL BE ON THE HEELS OF THE RIDGING. A DEEP TROUGH BECOMING NEGATIVELY TILTED WILL MOVE INTO CALIFORNIA ON FRIDAY WRAPPING PLENTY OF U/L ENERGY THROUGH THE REGION. WE EXPECT PRECIP TO BREAKOUT FRI AFTN-EVNG ACROSS THE CWA WITH VERY HVY SNOWS LIKELY IN THE MTNS ABOVE 4000 FEET THROUGH SATURDAY. BY SATURDAY...SNOW LEVELS ARE LIKELY TO FALL TO 3000-3500 FEET WITH NUMEROUS SHOWER ACTIVITY EXPECTED. SNOW COULD OCCUR IN SOME OF THE FOOTHILL COMMUNITIES ON SATURDAY AS WELL AS MAJOR IMPACTS TO THE MOUNTAIN PASSES. THIS WILL LIKELY NEED ADDITIONAL WINTER WEATHER HEADLINES THIS TIME TOMORROW. STRONG WINDS ALSO LIKELY TO IMPACT THE REGION FRI-SAT AS A STRONG COLD FRONT PLOWS THROUGH THE AREA. STAY TUNED. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH 00Z WEDNESDAY. MVFR WITH LOCAL IFR CONDITIONS AFTER 00Z WEDNESDAY AS RAIN AND SNOW ENTER THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES... NONE && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 4 PM PST WEDNESDAY ABOVE 6000 FEET FOR THE CAZ096-097. && PUBLIC...BROTHERTON AVN/FW...DCH SYNOPSIS...WP WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 23, 4:15 PM PST, 45 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 415 PM PST TUE FEB 23 2010 CAZ096-097-250000- SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON- TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- 415 PM PST TUE FEB 23 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM PST THIS EVENING TO 4 PM PST WEDNESDAY ABOVE 6000 FEET. FOR MORE INFO PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST /SFOWSWHNX/ OR /WWUS46 KHNX/ FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THE WINTER STORM WARNING WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM PST WEDNESDAY ABOVE 6000 FEET. .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. WP WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Feb 23, 4:04 PM PST, 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 404 PM PST TUE FEB 23 2010 CAZ089>094-240800- 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- 404 PM PST TUE FEB 23 2010 ...TWO WINTER STORMS TO IMPACT THE AREA THROUGH THE WEEKEND... RAIN WILL OVERSPREAD THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND ADJACENT FOOTHILLS THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH WEDNESDAY. RAINFALL AMOUNTS UP TO THREE-QUARTERS OF AN INCH WILL BE LIKELY IN THE VALLEY...ALTHOUGH SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 198 FOR THE SOUTH VALLEY...AMOUNTS WILL BE MUCH LESS...WELL UNDER ONE-QUARTER ON AN INCH. IN THE FOOTHILLS...RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL RANGE UP TO ONE INCH THROUGH WEDNESDAY. AS A FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE AREA LATE TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY...GUSTY WINDS AROUND 30 MPH WILL BE LIKELY. ANOTHER STORM...STRONGER AND SIGNIFICANTLY COLDER...IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE AREA FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY. THIS STORM SHOULD BRING ADDITIONAL PERIODS OF RAIN...WITH HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE AT TIMES...STRONG WINDS...AND HEAVY SNOWFALL ABOVE 4000 FEET. SNOW LEVELS BY SATURDAY MAY REACH DOWN INTO THE FOOTHILL COMMUNITIES WITH MEASURABLE SNOW. WINTER WEATHER IS LIKELY TO IMPACT THE MOUNTAIN PASSES IN AND OUT OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY MAKING TRAVEL PLANS DIFFICULT. CAZ095-240800- KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS- 404 PM PST TUE FEB 23 2010 ...TWO WINTER STORMS TO IMPACT THE AREA THROUGH THE WEEKEND... LIGHT RAIN AND SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY AS A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS IN THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS ARE EXPECTED TO GENERALLY BE LIGHT. AS A FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE AREA ON WEDNESDAY GUSTY WINDS UP TO 45 MPH WILL DEVELOP IN THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS. THESE WINDS COULD MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT ESPECIALLY THROUGH AND BELOW MOUNTAIN PASSES AND CANYONS. ANOTHER STORM...STRONGER AND SIGNIFICANTLY COLDER...IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE AREA FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY. THIS STORM SHOULD BRING PERIODS OF RAIN AND SNOW...POSSIBLY HEAVY AT TIMES...TO THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS. SNOW LEVELS BY SATURDAY ARE LIKELY TO FALL TO AROUND 4000 FEET. WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS MAY IMPACT MOST OF THE MOUNTAIN PASSES IN AND OUT OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. IN ADDITION HIGH WINDS MAY ALSO BE A CONCERN FOR MOTORISTS DRIVING BETWEEN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. CAZ098-099-240800- INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 404 PM PST TUE FEB 23 2010 ...TWO WINTER STORMS TO IMPACT THE AREA THROUGH THE WEEKEND... A PACIFIC STORM WILL PASS NORTH OF THE DESERTS TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY BRINGING A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS UP TO 45 MPH ON WEDNESDAY TO THE AREA. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL LIKELY OCCUR THROUGH AND BELOW MOUNTAIN PASSES AND CANYONS...MAKING DRIVING DIFFICULT FOR HIGH-PROFILE VEHICLES. ANOTHER STORM...STRONGER AND SIGNIFICANTLY COLDER...IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE AREA FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY. THIS STORM SHOULD BRING PERIODS OF RAIN TO THE REGION AS WELL AS A THREAT FOR POTENTIALLY HIGH WINDS. IN ADDITION...WINTER WEATHER IS LIKELY TO IMPACT MOST OF THE MOUNTAIN PASSES IN AND OUT OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. JMB WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 heavy rain, 2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Winter Storm, S Sierra Mtns
- When
- February 23, 10:00 PM PST to February 24, 12:00 PM PST
- Where
- S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
Winter Storm, Tulare Cty Mtns
- When
- February 23, 10:00 PM PST to February 24, 12:00 PM PST
- Where
- Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
Heavy Rain, Kern
- When
- February 24, 5:00 PM PST to 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- Kern County, Bakersfield
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Reported by
- Broadcast Media
- Coordinates
- 35.370, -119.000
Local media reported 1 foot deep water due to heavy rainfall at Airport Dr just north of State Rd. Three vehicles encountered the deep water and become stuck. Street flooding also reported on Fairfax Rd at Brundage Ave.
What these are
- Heavy Rain
- Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
- Winter Storm
- A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heavy Snow in Texas, February 23, 2010
- Avalanche in Colorado, February 23, 2010
- Winter Storm in Vermont, February 23 to 25, 2010
- Heavy Snow in Massachusetts, February 23 to 24, 2010
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in New York, February 23 to 24, 2010
- Strong Wind in California, February 23 to 24, 2010
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, February 23 to 24, 2010
- Heavy Snow in New York, February 23 to 24, 2010
- Heavy Snow in Texas, February 23, 2010
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, February 23 to 26, 2010
- Heavy Snow in Texas, February 23, 2010
- Lake-Effect Snow and Winter Weather in Michigan, February 23 to 24, 2010
More
Every storm in California in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2010
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: 218427, 218419, 218420, 218428.