Winter Storm and Flood in California, November 19 to 24, 2010

High pressure subsequently built along the California coast beginning November 14th, bringing a warming trend that saw high temperatures as much as 10 degrees above normal. In addition to the warming trend, the northerly flow around the periphery of the ridge brought gusty winds to the mountains and deserts. The warming trend lasted through the 18th, then the ridge gave way to a deep upper-level trough. This storm system brought a push of unseasonably cold air to the central California interior. Fresno had a high temperature of 74 on November 18th; the next day,|the high was only 60. Bakersfield had a 20-degree change in high temperatures, falling from a high of 79 on November 18th to a high of only 59 degrees on the 19th.|The storm brought the heaviest rainfall for the month to interior central California. The 5-day storm total rainfall for Fresno was 1.23 inch, which accounted for 68.3 percent of the total of 1.80 inch for the month. This 5-day total also was 111.8 % of the normal rainfall for the entire month (1.10 inch). For the same period, Bakersfield recorded 0.54 inch of rain, 64.3 percent of its monthly total of 0.84 inch. The 5-day rainfall nearly matched the normal for November at Bakersfield of 0.59 inch.

In the Southern Sierra Nevada, a total of up to 3 feet of snow fell in some locations above 6000 feet, while in the Kern County Mountains, 4 inches of new snow fell down to 5000 feet. The snow level plunged into the Southern Sierra Nevada foothills, with 7 inches of snow falling at Ponderosa Basin.

Very strong winds occurred in the Kern County Deserts on the afternoon of the 23rd. The highest winds were measured at Blue Max near Walker Pass and Bear Peak in the Southern Sierra. Gusts in those areas topped out at 80-90 mph with a peak gust of 93 mph at 632 pm at Blue Max.