An upper-level trough moved through the region on July 4th-6th. The trough interacted with a surge of monsoonal moisture, bringing thunderstorms to the Southern Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountains and the Kern County deserts.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS HNX wrote it up.
An upper-level trough moved through the region on July 4th-6th. The trough interacted with a surge of monsoonal moisture, bringing thunderstorms to the Southern Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountains and the Kern County deserts. The afternoon of July 4th saw gusts of 50-55 mph in the Kernville/Lake Isabella area, and hail up to a half-inch in diameter fell at Ponderosa in the Tulare County mountains. Heavy rain fell in Rosamond, with a spotter reporting 1.48 inch of rain that caused street flooding.
Thunderstorms redeveloped during the afternoon of July 5th. Strong winds knocked down trees and utility poles in Rosamond. The winds also caused blowing dust with zero visibility that closed Highway 58 between Mojave and California City. Flooding was reported in Rosamond and on Highway 14 at the Red Rock-Randsburg Road later in the afternoon as thunderstorms continued over the region. The storms continued the next day as the trough began moving east of the central California interior. Heavy rain was reported at Hume Lake on the 6th, with an inch of rain falling in 1 hour. The trough brought cooling to the region, with Fresno having a high of only 100 on the 5th, although temperatures rebounded to 105 the next day as the ridge strengthened over the state behind the departing trough.
San Joaquin Valley temperatures continued in triple digits from the 7th through the 9th, with some locations including Bakersfield having triple-digit heat on the 10th.
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 4, 1:53 PM PST, 1 hour 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 253 PM PDT MON JUL 4 2011 .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST WILL PREVAIL OVER THE REGION FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. TRIPLE DIGIT HEAT WILL CONTINUE OVER THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...THE ADJACENT LOWER FOOTHILLS...AND HIGH DESERT UNTIL LATE THIS WEEK. MOISTURE FROM THE SOUTHEAST WILL ARRIVE TODAY AS THE FIRST MONSOON EPISODE OF THE SEASON BEGINS TODAY. THIS WILL BRING INCREASING THUNDERSTORM CHANCES OVER THE MOUNTAIN AND DESERT AREAS AND EVEN A SMALL THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS TO THE WESTERN KERN...KINGS AND FRESNO COUNTY MOUNTAINS ON TUESDAY. && .DISCUSSION...MODELS AND WATER VAPOR PIX SHOW AN INVERTED TROF VERY SLOWLY APPROACHING FROM THE EAST. THIS TROF WILL BE THE FOCUS OF INCREASING TSTM ACTIVITY ACROSS CENTRAL CA...ESP TUES AND WED. MOST IMPRESSIVE SOUNDING OUT OF SAN DIEGO THIS MORNING WITH A PW VALUE OF 1.86 INCHES. THIS DEEPER MOISTURE WILL MOVE FARTHER WEST TONITE AND EARLY TUES...WITH MOISTURE EVEN WORKING NW ALONG THE COASTAL RANGES. THIS IS A RATHER STRONG MONSOON SURGE FOR CENTRAL CA FOR SO EARLY IN THE SEASON. STEERING CURRENTS OVER THE NEXT 2 DAYS ARE GOING TO BE FAIRLY LIGHT...THUS TSTMS WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DROP COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF RAIN. WITH THIS...ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH TUES AFTERNOON AND EVE FOR THE MTNS/DESERTS FROM SEQUOIA PARK SOUTH AS THIS WILL BE THE AREA WITH MOST NUMEROUS STORMS. THE FLOW WILL BE CONDUCIVE TO ALLOW SOME TSTMS TO DRIFT OUT INTO THE SJV...ESP THE SOUTH END...AND THE WEST SIDE ALONG AND WEST OF I-5. DEBRIS CLOUDS WILL BE PROBLEMATIC THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS WELL...AND WILL AFFECT TEMPS TO SOME DEGREE. DAYTIME HIGHS COULD BE LOWERED A FEW DEGREES IF ENOUGH CLOUDS LINGER THRU THE DAY...AND CONVERSELY NIGHTTIME MINS COULD REMAIN ON THE WARM AND MUGGY SIDE WITH ANY CLOUD COVER. TRENDED TEMPS TO THESE CONDS JUST A BIT. MODELS ARE QUITE SIMILAR IN RELATIVELY LITTLE CHANGE INTO THURS OR FRI. A COUPLE OF SHORTWAVE TROFS MOVING INTO AND ACROSS THE PAC NW BY THE END OF THE WEEK...MAY BE JUST ENOUGH TO TURN THE FLOW ALOFT OVER CENTRAL CA TO THE SOUTHWEST...ALBEIT FAIRLY LIGHT...BUT AT LEAST PUSH THE DEEPER MONSOON MOISTURE BACK TO THE EAST. CONTINUED PREVIOUS FCSTS OF GRADUALLY DECREASING TSTMS FRI...THEN CONFINED TO THE SIERRA CREST BY SUN OR MON. TEMPS WILL ALSO DECREASE A LITTLE OVER TIME...BUT ONLY TO CLIMO. THE EXCEPTION COULD BE ANY INFLUX OF MARINE AIR INTO THE SJV BY NEXT WEEKEND. HOWEVER MODELS ARENT TOO HOPEFUL WITH THIS HAPPENING...SO BASED ANY COOLING ON SYNOPTIC SCALE FEATURES SAT AND BEYOND. && .AVIATION... ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED OVER THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS IN ADDITION TO THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA WITH COVERAGE BECOMING SCATTERED BY 20Z TUE. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE CENTRAL CA INTERIOR THRU 00Z WED. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES... ON MONDAY JULY 4 2011... UNHEALTHY IN FRESNO... KERN AND TULARE COUNTIES. UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS IN KINGS COUNTY. FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT VALLEYAIR.ORG && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING CAZ095-097>099. FLOOD ADVISORY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE FOR SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY RIVERS NORTH OF KERN COUNTY CAC019-031-039-047-107. && PUBLIC...BINGHAM AVN/FW...DS SYNOPSIS...WP WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 512 AM PDT MON JUL 4 2011 CAZ089>094-051215- 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- 512 AM PDT MON JUL 4 2011 ...FLOOD ADVISORY BELOW RESERVOIRS... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND THE ADJACENT FOOTHILLS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A FLOOD ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR AREA RIVERS IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY NORTH OF KERN COUNTY...DUE TO HIGH RELEASES FROM FOOTHILL DAMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THE FLOOD ADVISORY FOR AREA RIVERS IN THE VALLEY NORTH OF KERN COUNTY WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT OR UNUSUAL CONDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. CAZ098-099-051215- INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 512 AM PDT MON JUL 4 2011 ...THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE BY THIS AFTERNOON... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE BEGINNING THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT OR UNUSUAL CONDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. DUDLEY
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 319 PM PDT MON JUL 4 2011 CAZ089>099-051130- 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-KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS- SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON- TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY- SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 319 PM PDT MON JUL 4 2011 ...CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK... A DEEP SURGE OF MONSOON MOISTURE WILL MOVE INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA TONIGHT AND TUESDAY. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE INCREASING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA...THE TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS...AND THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD LINGER OR EVEN DEVELOP DURING THE NIGHTTIME HOURS. THE FLOW ALOFT WILL BE SUCH THAT SOME THUNDERSTORMS COULD DRIFT INTO PARTS OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...ESPECIALLY NEAR THE FOOTHILLS ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE VALLEY AND IN THE SOUTH END. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME...GUSTY WINDS...AS WELL AS DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. FLASH FLOODING IS POSSIBLE IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. BINGHAM WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Local newspaper reported street flooding from heavy thunderstorm rains. Heavy rain occurred for 30 minutes with 1.17 inches of rianfall. The thunderstorm also produced minor street flooding and pea sized hail. Power outages also affected the city.
Thunderstorm winds knocked down trees and power poles in Rosamond. Also, blowing dust closed nearby Highway 58 for a short time due to near-zero visibility.
The highway patrol reporting flooding on California Highway 14 at Red Rock-Randsburg Road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 2011
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: 338799, 338801, 338798.