High Wind, Se Kern Cty Desert
- When
- March 7, 8:26 AM PST to 10:00 PM PST
- Where
- Se Kern Cty Desert forecast zone
- Measured
- 66 kt (76 mph) measured gust
- Property damage
- $1.0 million
- Reported by
- Law Enforcement
High Wind in California, March 7, 2011
On the 6th and 7th, a low pressure trough brought some rain and mountain snow to the area, but the main threat was strong and damaging winds in much of Kern County, including the desert and mountain areas. On the 6th, Bakersfield experienced gusty winds up to 35 mph as the cold front passed over the area.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $1.3 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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.
On the 6th and 7th, a low pressure trough brought some rain and mountain snow to the area, but the main threat was strong and damaging winds in much of Kern County, including the desert and mountain areas. On the 6th, Bakersfield experienced gusty winds up to 35 mph as the cold front passed over the area. Wind gusts reached over 80 mph at some locations in the desert on the 7th. On this day, the winds were strongest during the morning and afternoon hours, when pressure gradients and upper level winds were most favorable. at 1130 AM a roof blew off a house just south of Weldon. A total of 5 semi truck trailers were blown over near Mojave and the intersection of Highways 58 and 14. At Edwards AFB, high winds caused damages to a house, car, and a garage. Also just to the west of Rosamond, several power poles were snapped and toppled due to the high winds.
Winds subsided during the evening hours, but a few locations in the desert saw gusts continuing at 50-70 mph. By the 8th, temperatures remained several degrees cooler before then next ridge of high pressure strengthened over the area.
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 Mar 7, 3:56 AM PST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 7, 3:56 AM PST, 4 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 356 AM PST MON MAR 7 2011 .SYNOPSIS... A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE OVER THE AREA THROUGH THIS EVENING AND WILL BRING MORE RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW ALONG WITH STRONG WINDS OVER THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERT. HIGH PRESSURE WILL RETURN TO THE REGION WITH DRY CONDITIONS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. && .DISCUSSION... THE STORM THAT PUSHED THROUGH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA OVERNIGHT CONTINUES TO PUSH EASTWARD THIS MORNING. THE STORM WAS MAINLY EAST OF HIGHWAY 99...NORTH OF TULARE COUNTY...AND QUICKLY DIMINISHING AS OF 330 AM PST. WHILE RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS WILL LINGER INTO SUNRISE THIS MORNING...SNOW ACCUMULATION WAS REMAIN LIGHT. UPPER AIR OBSERVATION ANALYSIS FROM OAKLAND SHOWED THE SNOW LEVEL NEAR 7000 FEET MSL LAST NIGHT AND NEAR 5000 FEET THIS MORNING. YET... ANY SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATION WAS CONFINED TO AREAS ABOVE 7000 FEET THAT REMAINED ABOVE THE SNOW LINE DURING THE STORM. CURRENT IR SATELLITE IMAGERY ALONG WITH RUC80 UPPER AIR ANALYSIS SHOWED THE AXIS OF THE UPPER LEVEL TROF CENTERED NEAR THE CALIFORNIA COAST AND SLOWLY SHIFTING EAST. WILL EXPECT MOST OF THE DISTRICT UNDER THE AREA OF NVA BEHIND THE TROF SHORTLY AFTER DAY BREAK. THEREFORE...CANCELED THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE THE KINGS CANYON AS THE PRECIP WILL PUSH EAST THE SIERRA DURING THE MORNING AS NVA BECOMES MORE DOMINATE OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. ON THE OTHER HAND...MODELS STILL PROGGING A STRONG WIND EVENT ACROSS THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS TODAY AS SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS REACH 17MB FROM SFO TO LAS NEAR 400 PM PST. THEREFORE...WILL ALLOW THE HIGH WIND WARNING TO REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR TODAY. WITH THE MORE STABLE ATMOSPHERE...FOG MAY BECOME A PROBLEM THIS MORNING UNDER THE AREA OF CLEARING. CURRENT SURFACE OBSERVATIONS WERE SHOWING DEW POINT REACHING THE 50 DEG-F MARK. WITH DEW POINTS THAT HIGH...FOG MAY HAVE NO PROBLEM DEVELOPING THIS MORNING BEFORE SUN RISE. YET...THE BURN OFF RATE MAY BE QUICKER AS SUN RISE IS NOW NEAR 630 AM. YET...WILL BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR ANY POSSIBLE FOG DEVELOPMENT THIS MORNING. AFTER TODAY STORM...MODELS THEN DEVELOP A RIDGE PATTERN OVER THE WEST COAST THAT STRENGTHENS TOWARD MID WEEK. THEREFORE...WILL EXPECT A DRYING AND WARMING TREND THROUGH THURSDAY BEFORE ANOTHER TROF PUSHING THROUGH LATER THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY. YET...HEIGHT MAY ONLY FLATTEN AND PRODUCE A ZONAL FLOW PATTERN TOWARD THE END OF THE WEEK. WHILE COOLING OF TEMPERATURES MAY OCCUR...WILL NOT EXPECT PRECIP FROM THIS EVENT. MODELS THEN SHOW THE RIDGE REBOUNDING AND ALLOWING TEMPERATURES TO WARM BACK UP AGAIN. && .AVIATION... AREAS OF MVFR AND SOME LOCAL IFR WITH MOUNTAIN OBSCURATION IN PRECIPITATION OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN...TAPERING OFF AFTER 18Z MONDAY. ALSO SOME LINGERING LOCAL MVFR IN -RA AND HZ/BR IS POSSIBLE OVER THE EAST SIDE OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND ADJACENT FOOTHILLS THROUGH 18Z MONDAY. OTHERWISE...MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR THROUGH 12Z TUESDAY. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES... NONE. && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 10 PM PST THIS EVENING FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS /CAZ095-098-099/. && PUBLIC...MOLINA AVN/FW...DCH SYNOPSIS...BSO WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 7, 3:12 AM PST, 5 hours 14 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 312 AM PST MON MAR 7 2011 CAZ096-080600- SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON- 312 AM PST MON MAR 7 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .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. CAZ095-098-099-080600- KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY- SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 312 AM PST MON MAR 7 2011 ...HIGH WINDS UNTIL THIS EVENING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERT. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM PST THIS MORNING UNTIL 10 PM PST TONIGHT. FOR MORE INFORMATION...PLEASE REFER TO SFONPWHNX...OR WMO HEADER WWUS76 KHNX. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .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. BSO
Event by event
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, Kern Cty Mtns
- When
- March 7, 11:30 AM PST to 10:00 PM PST
- Where
- Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph) estimated gust
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Reported by
- Mesonet
What these are
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Kansas, March 7 to 8, 2011
- Flooding in Connecticut, March 7 to 10, 2011
- Flooding and High Wind in Massachusetts, March 7 to 8, 2011
- Drought in Texas, March 7 to 31, 2011
- Flood in New Hampshire, March 7 to 8, 2011
- Winter Weather in Nebraska, March 7 to 8, 2011
- Winter Weather in South Dakota, March 7, 2011
- High Wind in California, March 7 to 8, 2011
- Flooding in Vermont, March 7, 2011
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Utah, March 7 to 9, 2011
- Flooding in New Jersey, March 7, 2011
- Winter Storm in Colorado, March 7 to 8, 2011
More
Every storm in California in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in California, March 2011
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: 294547, 294533.