Winter Storm in California, November 27 to 28, 2010

The final storm of the month moved into northern California late on November 26th, and into central California the following day. The storm was a slow mover, and precipitation did not reach Hanford until the afternoon hours. Rainfall over the central and southern San Joaquin Valley was mostly light, with less than a quarter inch of rain reported south of Merced. In the Southern Sierra Nevada, up to 18 inches of new snow fell as far south as Sequoia National Park through the 28th, but snowfall tapered off sharply south of the Park with the Kern County Mountains receiving only an inch or two of new snow over the higher elevations, and only a light dusting on the Grapevine and Tehachapi Pass.

The trough moved east of California during the night of November 28-29th, allowing an upperlevel ridge to build into the state on the 29th. This brought a stable airmass aloft, and patchy San Joaquin Valley fog again developed during the early morning of November 30th, although this time it was mainly in the Hanford area.