Winter Storm, S Sierra Mtns
- When
- May 25, 10:00 PM PST to May 28, 4:25 AM PST
- Where
- S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
- Reported by
- Park/Forest Service
Winter Storm in California, May 25 to 28, 2010
By the 20th, temperatures began to cool again, as a series of three low pressure troughs began moving through California. These systems brought a cold airmass to the region and windy conditions to the Kern County deserts and the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- 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.
By the 20th, temperatures began to cool again, as a series of three low pressure troughs began moving through California. These systems brought a cold airmass to the region and windy conditions to the Kern County deserts and the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Bakersfield tied or broke its low maximum temperature records on the 22nd and 23rd, and Fresno tied its record low maximum temperature on the 22nd.
A low developed in the base of the third trough, dropping to near Point Conception during the early morning of May 23rd. Moisture rotating around this low triggered showers over the south end of the San Joaquin Valley. Bakersfield measured 0.04 inch of rain on the 23rd, one half of the record rainfall for the date.
More Pacific storms moved into California moved into northern California on May 25th-26th, and again on 27th-28th. The heaviest showers from these storms stayed mainly north of FresnoCounty. The first storm brought 4-7 inches of new snow to the Southern Sierra Nevada north of Kings Canyon with the second storm bringing similar amounts to the same area. Only light snow fell in the Tulare County Mountains, generally less than 2 inches. One storm moving north from Ventura County even brought a light dusting of snow to Cuddy Valley at the 5900-foot elevation.
Thunderstorms developed over the central Sierra Nevada during the afternoon and evening of May 27th. One thunderstorm developed over northern Yosemite National Park, with the rest of the thunderstorms staying north of the park.
In the wake of the trough, wind gusts to around 50 mph developed over the southeastern Kern County desert during the eveni9ng of May 28th. The strongest winds were confined to an area just below the south-facing passes and canyons of the Tehachapi Mountains.
High pressure built into California toward the end of May. High temperatures in the central and southern San Joaquin Valley warmed to near 90 on May 30th, and into the lower to mid 90s on the last day of the month. Fresno had its warmest day of the month on the 31st, with a high of 92 degrees. Bakersfield tied its warmest day with a high of 93, matching the high of May 16th.
The average temperature for May at Bakersfield was 65.8 degrees. This tied with May 1961 for the 12th coldest May on record. Fresno had its 23rd coldest May on record with an average temperature of 65.1 degrees.
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 May 25, 8:15 PM PST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 25, 8:15 PM PST, 1 hour 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 915 PM PDT TUE MAY 25 2010 .SYNOPSIS... A SERIES OF WINTER LIKE STORM SYSTEMS WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES COOLER THAN NORMAL THIS WEEK. A CHANCE OF RAIN AND HIGHER ELEVATION SNOW WILL BEGIN MOVING ACROSS THE AREA LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL LINGER INTO FRIDAY. && .DISCUSSION...PATTERN WILL REMAIN UNUSUALLY ACTIVE FOR LATE MAY WITH MANY COMPLEXITIES DURING THE NEXT 72 HRS. INITIAL COLD FRONT HAS TEMPORARILY SLOWED OR STALLED OVER THE MIDDLE OF OUR CWA THIS EVENING. THE FRONT MARKS THE LEADING EDGE OF AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH THAT WILL DEEPEN OFFSHORE DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. A VERY STRONG 300 MB JET (120+ KTS) IS CURRENTLY ROUNDING THE BASE OF THIS TROUGH. ITS INTERACTION WITH THE SURFACE COLD FRONT IS HELPING TO ENHANCE PRECIP ALONG IT THIS EVENING AND SHOULD HELP KICK THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY EASTWARD LATER TONIGHT. ADDITIONAL JET IMPULSES...NONE OF WHICH ARE TIMEABLE...WILL MOVE OVER THE CENTRAL CA INTERIOR DURING THE NEXT 24 TO 36 HRS AND HELP ENHANCE OROGRAPHIC LIFT ALONG THE WEST SLOPES OF THE SIERRA. THE 00Z MODEL QPF HAS COME IN MUCH DRIER THAN PREVIOUS RUNS BUT BELIEVE IT COULD BE WEIGHING IN CLIMATOLOGY AND CANNOT HANDLE THE EXTRAORDINARILY LOW 500 MB HEIGHTS AND DYNAMICS AT THIS LATITUDE. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 350 PM PDT TUE MAY 25 2010/ DISCUSSION...MODELS CONT TO BULLS-EYE THE YOSEMITE AREA WITH THE HIGHEST QPF WITH AMOUNTS TAPERING OFF DRAMATICALLY BY THE TIME IT GETS TO KINGS CANYON. CONTINUED WITH THE WARNING FOR ZONE 96...BUT CANCELED THE WATCH FOR TULARE MTNS AS QPF AND LOWER POPS SHOULD KEEP SEQUOIA PARK FROM RECEIVING MUCH IN THE WAY OF ANY SIGNIFICANT SNOW. THERE COULD BE A BREAK IN THE PRECIP WED...HOWEVER WITH THE UPPER LOW BECOMING ANCHORED OFF THE NORCAL COAST OVER TIME...A SERIES OF DISTURBANCES ROTATING INLAND AROUND THE LOW WILL LIKELY KEEP PERIODS OF SNOW AROUND YOSEMITE THROUGH WED NITE...AND EVEN INTO THURS. FOR THE VALLEY AND SIERRA FOOTHILLS IT WILL LIKELY BE DRY WED...WITH JUST A FEW INSTABILITY SHOWERS COMING ACROSS THE VALLEY FROM THE COAST RANGES. THE EURO AND GFS BRING ANOTHER ACTIVE VORTMAX THRU THURS AND HAVE INCREASED POPS A BIT FOR THIS. THE LEAST LIKELY TO RECEIVE ANY RAINFALL WILL BE THE TEHACHAPIS AND HIGH DESERTS. FINALLY...THE MAIN UPPER LOW AND ALL ITS PARTS MOVES INLAND THURS NITE AND/OR FRI. THIS WILL BRING A GRADUAL END TO ANY PRECIP...JUST IN TIME FOR THE LONG MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND. TEMPS WILL CONT TO BE ON THE COOL SIDE AT LEAST THRU FRI ESPECIALLY DURING THE DAYTIME HOURS WHERE MAX/S WILL BE SOME 10-15 DEGS BELOW SEASONAL NORMS IN THE VALLEY...FOORHILLS...AND DESERTS. BUT THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SIERRA WILL BE SOME 20-30 DEGS BELOW NORMAL. AT LAST...MODELS ARE HINTING THAT THE EXTENDED WET SEASON OF THE PAST MONTH OR SO COULD COME TO AN END. /I WILL BELIEVE IT WHEN IT HAPPENS/. THE EURO AND TO SOME EXTENT GFS FINALLY BUILD A PACIFIC RIDGE EASTWARD TOWARD...AND INTO THE SOUTHERN HALF OF CA THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. TEMPS SHOULD BE BACK TO NORMAL MON AND MAYBE ABOVE MID-WEEK. && .AVIATION... AN UPPER TROUGH OFF THE COAST WILL PROVIDE CLOUDS AND SCATTERED PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE DISTRICT WITH AREAS OF MVFR AND LOCAL IFR CONDITIONS THROUGH 06Z THURSDAY. MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED IN THE KERN DESERT THROUGH 06Z THURSDAY. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES... NONE && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 11 PM THIS EVENING TO 4 AM PDT THURSDAY ABOVE 6000 FEET FOR THE CAZ096. && PUBLIC...DURFEE AVN/FW...DCH SYNOPSIS...TLM WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
Hazardous weather outlook, May 25, 3:06 PM PST, 6 hours 54 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 406 PM PDT TUE MAY 25 2010 CAZ096-261200- SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON- 406 PM PDT TUE MAY 25 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THE WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 11 PM THIS EVENING TO 4 AM PDT THURSDAY ABOVE 6000 FEET. FOR DETAILS PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WEATHER MESSAGE /SFOWSWHNX OR WWUS46 KHNX/ ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN HANFORD. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THE WINTER STORM WARNING WILL CONTINUE UNTIL 4 AM THURSDAY. .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 CAZ097-261200- TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- 406 PM PDT TUE MAY 25 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY 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. TLM WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
Event by event
1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- 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
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Kansas, May 25, 2010
- Flash Flood and Hail in Missouri, May 25, 2010
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Iowa, May 25, 2010
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Wisconsin, May 25 to 26, 2010
- Tornadoes and Hail in Colorado, May 25, 2010
- Flood in Montana, May 25 to 26, 2010
- Flash Flood and Heavy Rain in Texas, May 25, 2010
- Damaging Winds in Maine, May 25, 2010
- Flood and Hail in Kansas, May 25 to 26, 2010
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, May 25, 2010
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Wisconsin, May 25, 2010
- Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, May 25 to 26, 2010
More
Every storm in California in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in California, May 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: 237856.