Name: Strong Wind in California, July 2 to 3, 2010
Start: 2010-07-02T18:34
End: 2010-07-03T10:00
Location: California

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $1,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

July began with a weak upper-level trough of low pressure over California. As a result, the first day of the month saw temperatures across the central and southern San Joaquin Valley a couple of degrees below normal, with slightly cooler temperatures the next day. The trough began to lift northeast out of California on July 3rd, but a northwest flow aloft down the back side of the trough brought gusty winds to the Tehachapi Mountains and the Kern County desert area around Mojave. Winds in those areas gusted to 45 to 55 mph during the early morning of the 3rd. As the trough moved out of central California, an upper-level ridge began building into the state. This allowed temperatures to warm a couple of degrees, although central and southern San Joaquin Valley highs continued slightly below normal.

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 Jul 2, 12:45 PM PST, 5 hours 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 2, 12:45 PM PST, 5 hours 49 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
145 PM PDT FRI JUL 2 2010

.SYNOPSIS...A MINOR WARM UP WILL OCCUR DURING THE FOURTH OF JULY
WEEKEND AS AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE SETTLES OFF THE
WEST COAST.

&&

.DISCUSSION...DRY UPPER TROUGH PUSHING THROUGH CA AT THIS TIME
WITH SUNNY SKIES PREVAILING ACROSS OUR ENTIRE AREA THIS AFTERNOON.
THE COOLING TREND THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS IS
ABOUT TO COME TO AN END AS TEMPERATURES BOTTOM OUT TODAY. 12Z
WRF/GFS INDICATE THE TROUGH AXIS WILL CROSS OUR AREA TONIGHT THEN
MOVE INTO THE GREAT BASIN OVER THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND. WITH THE
DEPARTURE OF THE TROUGH...HIGH PRESSURE WILL AMPLIFY OFFSHORE
RESULTING IN A WARMING TREND ACROSS OUR AREA AS HEIGHTS AND
THICKNESSES RISE IN A DRY ATMOSPHERE. GUIDANCE INDICATING
TEMPERATURES WILL REACH SEASONAL NORMALS BY THE INDEPENDENCE DAY
HOLIDAY THEN NUDGE A TAD ABOVE CLIMO BY MONDAY.

MEDIUM RANGE PROGS CONTINUE TO INDICATE A WEAK UPPER LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEM DEVELOPING OFF THE CENTRAL CA COAST ON TUESDAY WHICH WILL
TURN THE UPPER FLOW OFFSHORE ALLOWING FOR SOME UPPER LEVEL
TROPICAL MOISTURE TO BACK INTO OUR AREA BY NEXT WEDNESDAY ALLOWING
FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF HIGH BASED DIURNAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
NEAR THE CREST OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA DURING THE LATTER
PORTION OF NEXT WEEK. WITH DEEP MOISTURE LACKING...THE REMAINDER OF
OUR AREA WILL REMAIN MOSTLY CLEAR AND FREE OF PRECIPITATION.
TEMPERATURES WILL HOVER CLOSE TO SEASONAL NORMALS FOR EARLY JULY.

&&

.AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA INTERIOR THROUGH 00Z SUNDAY.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...NONE.

&&

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

&&

PUBLIC...DS
AVN/FW...BEAN
SYNOPSIS...TLM

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Event by event

1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Strong Wind, Se Kern Cty Desert

When: July 2, 6:34 PM PST to July 3, 10:00 AM PST
Where: Se Kern Cty Desert forecast zone
Measured: 48 kt (55 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: Mesonet

What these are

Strong Wind: Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2010 Every state in 2010 This day in weather history Warnings in California, July 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: 254580.