Winter Storm in California, May 28 to 29, 2011

Name: Winter Storm in California, May 28 to 29, 2011
Start: 2011-05-28T19:00
End: 2011-05-29T01:09
Location: California

May 28 to 29, 2011 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The next upper-level trough approached California on May 21st. Temperatures on the 21st were similar to those of the previous day, then cooled as much as 6 degrees on May 22nd.

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.

The next upper-level trough approached California on May 21st. Temperatures on the 21st were similar to those of the previous day, then cooled as much as 6 degrees on May 22nd. The trough brought isolated showers to the Southern Sierra Nevada on the 21st, but mid-level west winds - moving around the base of a short-wave dropping through the trough kept convection east of the Hanford warning/forecast area on the 22nd. The aforementioned short-wave also deepened the marine layer along the coast. Marine air spilling through Pacheco Pass during the evening of May 22nd generated gusts to around 45 mph through the pass.

A stronger Pacific storm approached California on May 25th. A series of upper-level short waves rotating around a low off the California coast brought periods of gusty winds to interior central California. Temperatures on the 25th warmed ahead of the first cold front, with the central and southern San Joaquin Valley saw highs in the upper 70s and 80s.

The winds increased over the Kern County mountains and deserts beginning the afternoon of May 26th. Wind gusts to around 45 mph were reported during the afternoon and evening of the 26th, then increased to as high as 78 mph during the afternoon of the 27th as winds funneled through the Tehachapi Pass into the Mojave Desert. The winds abated some that evening, but gusts between 45-50 mph were common over the desert. May 28th saw a strong cold front move through the region during the afternoon and evening, bringing gusty winds to the San Joaquin Valley as well as to the mountains and deserts. Gusts up to 80 mph were reported in the Mojave|Desert, and some wind damage was reported in the San Joaquin Valley mainly to trees.

An upper-level disturbance moved onshore behind the cold front. As the disturbance tracked east over the San Joaquin Valley from the central California coast, it triggered showers over the central California interior, with the strongest activity over Kern and Tulare Counties. Snowfalls of up to 7 inches were reported over the Southern Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi Mountains, with 4 inches falling as far south as Bear Valley Springs. Bakersfield received 0.11 inch of rain during the early morning hours of May 29th, accounting for nearly half of the total rainfall for the month of 0.23 inch and bringing the month’s total almost to the normal for May of 0.24 inch. Rainfall tapered off to the north, with Fresno receiving only 0.01 inch from the storm. For the month,|Fresno recorded 0.35 inch of rain, just 0.04 inch below the normal value of 0.39 inch.|May ended with a weak high pressure moving over the state. The high brought dry weather, lighter winds and warmer temperatures, although temperatures did remain below normal.

For the month, Bakersfield had an average temperature of 66.3 degrees. This tied with May 1942 for the 16th coldest May on record. Fresno had an average temperature of 65.1 degrees, tying with May 1957 for its 22nd coldest May on record.

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 28, 1:12 PM PST, 5 hours 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 28, 1:12 PM PST, 5 hours 48 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
212 PM PDT SAT MAY 28 2011

.SYNOPSIS...A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO PASS OVER THE
CENTRAL CA INTERIOR TONIGHT AND SUNDAY WITH A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS
OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AND HIGHER ELEVATION SNOW. GUSTY
WINDS WILL CONTINUE AT TIMES IN THE MOUNTAIN AND DESERT AREAS OF
KERN COUNTY...ALONG WITH BREEZY CONDITIONS IN THE SAN JOAQUIN
VALLEY THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING. COOLER THAN AVERAGE TEMPERATURES
WILL LIKELY CONTINUE INTO NEXT WEEK DUE TO A TROUGH PATTERN OVER
THE WEST COAST.

&&

.DISCUSSION...WV INDICATING A DEEPENING UPPER TROUGH OVER CA AS
A COLD UPPER LOW PUSHES SLOWLY EASTWARD THROUGH THE PAC NW. A VORT
MAX UNDER RIDING THE UPPER LOW HAS BROUGHT SOME SHOWERS TO
NORCAL...BUT AT THIS THIS TIME THE PRECIPITATION HAS REMAINED
NORTH OF OUR CWFA. SOME UPSLOPE CLOUDS HAVE FORMED OVER THE
FOOTHILLS AND VALLEY FACING SLOPES OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA
NEVADA AND SOME ALTO-CUMULUS HAS PUSHED INTO THE CENTRAL SAN
JOAQUIN VALLEY...BUT SKIES ARE MOSTLY SUNNY OVER THE REMAINDER OF
OUR AREA. A COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM IS PUSHING
THROUGH NORCAL AT THIS TIME. THIS FRONT IS PROGGED TO PUSH
SOUTHWARD THROUGH CENTRAL CA TONIGHT AND BRING ANOTHER PERIOD OF
STRONG WINDS TO THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS TONIGHT AND
SUNDAY. HAVE EXTENDED THE WIND ADVISORY FOR THESE AREAS INTO
SUNDAY EVENING AS THE 12Z WRF AND GFS INDICATE P-GRADS ARE
EXPECTED TO REMAIN STRONG UNTIL LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON. WHILE
TEMPERATURES HAVE BEEN UNSEASONABLY COOL ACROSS OUR TODAY...SUNDAY
LOOKS TO BE SEVERAL DEGREES COLDER WITH RECORD LOW DAYTIME
MAXIMUMS POSSIBLE IN FRESNO AND BAKERSFIELD. THE MAIN UPPER LOW
ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TAKE AN INSIDE SLIDER
TRAJECTORY AND DROP SLOWLY SOUTHEAST INTO THE GREAT BASIN TONIGHT
AND SUNDAY THEN PUSH EAST INTO THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION. WITH THE
DEEPER MOISTURE AND MORE FAVORABLE DYNAMICS REMAINING NORTH AND
EAST OF OUR AREA WILL KEEP PRECIPITATION CHANCES LIMITED TO A
SLIGHT CHANCE TO LOW CHANCE OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA
MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS. FOLLOWING THE UNSEASONABLY COOL AND
BLUSTERY DAY ON SUNDAY...THE WRF AND GFS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT IN
BUILDING A SHORTWAVE RIDGE OVER CENTRAL CA ON MEMORIAL DAY WHICH
WILL BRING A WARMING TREND TO OUR AREA ALTHOUGH UPSLOPE LOW CLOUDS
COULD PERSIST OVER THE TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS AND SOUTH END OF THE
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. ANOTHER UPPER LOW IS PROGGED TO DROP OFF
SOUTHWARD OFF THE NORCAL COAST ON TUESDAY. THIS WILL TURN THE
UPPER FLOW TO THE SOUTHWEST WHICH IS LESS FAVORABLE FOR WINDS OVER
THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. HOWEVER...THE ONSHORE FLOW
WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES ION THE COOL SIDE.

THE MEDIUM RANGE MODELS INDICATE THE MEANDER OFF THE NORCAL COAST
ON WEDNESDAY THEN EJECT INLAND OVER NORCAL FRIDAY ONLY TO BE
REPLACED BY ANOTHER UPPER LOW DROPPING SOUTHWARD OFF THE COAST
BEHIND IT. AS A RESULT...TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN WELL BELOW
NORMAL ACROSS OUR AREA THROUGH NEXT WEEKEND ALTHOUGH PROGS KEEP
THE DEEPER MOISTURE AND STRONGER DYNAMICS SUFFICIENT FOR
PRECIPITATION NORTH OF OUR AREA.

&&

.AVIATION...STRONG WINDS IN EXCESS OF 35 KNOTS WILL CONTINUE
THROUGH AND BELOW THE MOUNTAIN PASSES OF KERN COUNTY. THERE WILL
BE AREAS OF MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS IN UPSLOPE CLOUDS OVER THE
VALLEY-FACING SLOPES OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA....SPREADING
SOUTH BACK OVER THE NORTH SLOPES OF THE TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS AFTER
04Z SUNDAY. A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVING INTO THE REGION WILL
SPREAD SCATTERED SHOWERS WITH ASSOCIATED MVFR CONDITIONS SOUTHWARD
OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AFTER 00Z SUNDAY. ELSEWHERE...VFR
CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR
THROUGH 00Z MONDAY.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...NONE.

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM PDT SUNDAY CAZ095-098-099.

&&

PUBLIC...DS
AVN/FW...SANGER
SYNOPSIS...BSO

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Hazardous weather outlook, May 28, 12:51 PM PST, 6 hours 9 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
151 PM PDT SAT MAY 28 2011

CAZ095-098-099-291230-
KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-
SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
151 PM PDT SAT MAY 28 2011

...GUSTY WINDS...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS
AND DESERT.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THROUGH 9 PM PDT SUNDAY. GUSTY WINDS
AT TIMES WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN AND DESERT AREAS OF
KERN COUNTY THROUGH TONIGHT. GUSTS OF 55 MPH ARE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY
THROUGH AND BELOW WIND FAVORED PASSES AND CANYONS. AREAS OF BLOWING
DUST AND SAND ARE POSSIBLE WHICH COULD LIMIT VISIBILITY IN PLACES.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

THE WIND ADVISORY WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM PDT SUNDAY.

.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

1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, S Sierra Mtns

When: May 28, 7:00 PM PST to May 29, 1:09 AM PST
Where: S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: Park/Forest Service

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

Every storm in California in 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in California, May 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: 318006.