High Wind in California, April 13 to 14, 2013

Name: High Wind in California, April 13 to 14, 2013
Start: 2013-04-13T18:00
End: 2013-04-14T12:00
Location: California

April 13 to 14, 2013 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

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.

An east Pacific storm approached California on April 14th, weakening the ridge and cooling temperatures several degrees. Winds increased during the day as a cooler airmass pushed into the San Joaquin Valley and the upper-level jet stream aligned with the passes and canyons of the Kern County mountains. Winds gusted to 80 mph at Bird Springs Pass in the Kern County Sierra Nevada, and to 62 mph at North Edwards Auxiliary Airfield, Edwards AFB. Elsewhere in the mountains and deserts, several wind gusts were in the 45-55 mph range, and gusty winds persisted into the 15th. With dry conditions, blowing dust proved to be a problem in the Kern County deserts. In the San Joaquin Valley, winds gusted to 25-30 mph at several sites, mainly in the central and southwestern San Joaquin Valley.

Gusty winds continued on April 16th as a low-level jet stream moved into the state along the back side of the storm. The jet stream was oriented mainly north-south, and funneled through the mountain passes and canyons. Winds gusted to 45-55 mph in the Kern County mountains and deserts, and to 35-40 mph in the central and southern San Joaquin Valley. The 16th also saw precipitation falling in the mountains. Snow levels were low, around 3600 feet. Snow fell at Ponderosa Basin (elevation 3600 feet), and the California Highway Patrol reported light snow falling, but not sticking, at Lebec (elevation 3585 feet). On the morning of April 17th, Ponderosa reported a 24-hour total of an inch of new snow. In addition to being cold, the airmass was unstable and a few thunderstorms developed near Bass Lake on the 16th.

An upper-level ridge began building into California on April 18th, and temperatures warmed to near normal on the 18th, then well above normal from the 19th through the 27th. High temperatures in the central and southern San Joaquin Valley reached the mid 80s to around 90 on April 21st, and the warmest locations in the Kern County deserts reached the lower 90s. High temperatures were a couple of degrees warmer on the 22nd, with both Bakersfield and Fresno reaching the 90-degree mark for the first time since October 18th, 2012. The high at Fresno was 91 degrees, and Bakersfield was a degree cooler.

A weak cold front dropped into the Great Basin on April 23rd, bringing a push of colder air into the deserts. Temperatures fell as much as 10 degrees from the 22nd to the 23rd at some desert sites. A weaker influx of cool air into the San Joaquin Valley dropped temperatures in the central Valley by a few degrees on the 23rd, with highs falling back into the mid 80s. The cool air did not penetrate as far as the south end of the San Joaquin Valley, and Bakersfield had a second consecutive day with a high of 90 degrees.

Ahead of the cold front, winds increased in the Kern County mountains and deserts during the evening of April 22nd. Gusts were as high as 49 mph, but were not persistent. Wind speeds would jump to over 40 mph, then drop down to 20-25 mph the next observation before increasing again.

April 24th saw the central California interior between two weather features an upper-level low southwest of the Channel Islands and a short-wave moving through northern California. Mid-level moisture wrapping around the low moved into the region from the east, while the flow down the back of the short-wave was from the northeast. The two flows collided over Madera County, setting up a convergence zone that supported isolated late afternoon convection over the high country of the Southern Sierra Nevada in northeastern Madera County. At the same time, the aforementioned features allowed the coastal marine layer to deepen. The marine layer was over 4300 feet deep at Fort Ord during the afternoon of the 24th, and marine air spilling through the passes and canyons of the Temblors and Diablo Range triggered 35-40 mph gusts along the west side of the San Joaquin Valley during the late afternoon and evening.

The influx of cool air into the San Joaquin Valley produced a noticeable drop in temperatures on the 25th. The high at Bakersfield only reached 79 degrees, the first time since April 18th that the high at Meadows Field did not reach 80 degrees. Fresno was slightly warmer with a high of 81 degrees, down 10 degrees from the previous day. (Bakersfield’s high was down 9 degrees from the 24th.)

High pressure rebuilt into California beginning on April 26th, with temperatures warming through the 29th. A mainly dry upper-level short-wave dropped through California on the 28th, triggering a thunderstorm over the Sierra Nevada crest in Tulare County, and bringing breezy conditions to the west side of the San Joaquin Valley as well as through and below the passes of the Kern County mountains. Winds gusted up to 42 mph at both Cache Creek and Mojave, and to 37 mph at Ridgecrest.

A stronger upper-level trough moved through northern California on April 30th. Short-waves moving along the periphery of the trough brought narrow bands of high clouds that pushed south across the central California interior. The short-waves also brought gusty winds to the region. Gusts reached 35-40 mph on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, and 45-50 mph below favorably oriented passes and canyons of the Kern County mountains.

Although the trough brought a cooler airmass to the region, April ended on a warm note as Fresno set a record high minimum temperature on the 30th. Despite only setting two temperature records for the month both high minimums and one being a tie Fresno had its warmest April on record. (Fresno temperature records go back to 1887; rainfall records go back further, to 1878.) Bakersfield set no temperature records during April, but did tie its 14th warmest April on record (since 1889).

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 Apr 13, 3:07 PM PST, 2 hours 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 13, 3:07 PM PST, 2 hours 53 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
407 PM PDT SAT APR 13 2013

.SYNOPSIS...
AN UPPER LEVEL LOW HAS BEGAN MOVING SOUTHWARD OVER THE REGION AND
WILL BRING COOLER TEMPERATURES AND BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS
ESPECIALLY BELOW KERN COUNTY PASSES AND CANYONS THROUGH TUESDAY.
LITTLE RAIN OR MOUNTAIN SNOW IS EXPECTED WITH THIS SYSTEM. LATE
WEDNESDAY HIGH PRESSURE WILL BEGIN MOVING INTO THE AREA BRINGING
MORE STABLE CONDITIONS AND A GRADUAL WARMING TREND THROUGH NEXT
WEEKEND.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
ANOTHER WARM SPRING DAY TODAY UNDER GENERALLY SUNNY SKIES AS A
SHORTWAVE RIDGE MOVES EAST THROUGH THE REGION. TEMPERATURES THIS
AFTERNOON ARE TOPPING OUT AROUND 10-15 DEGREES ABOVE CLIMO.

A COOLING TREND IS ON TAP FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR AS
SHORTWAVE ENERGY DROPS OUT OF THE GULF OF ALASKA DURING THE NEXT
FEW DAYS. MODELS ARE IN RATHER GOOD AGREEMENT IN DROPPING A
DEVELOPING TROUGH ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN REGION AND CLIPPING
CALIFORNIA THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE UPCOMING WEEK. THIS WILL
LOWER TEMPERATURES TO A FEW DEGREES BELOW SEASONAL NORMS DURING
THE PERIOD. THERE IS NOT PROGGED TO BE MUCH MOISTURE ASSOCIATED
WITH THE PASSING FEATURE AND THERE WILL BE MAINLY A SLIGHT CHANCE
FOR SHOWERS IN THE SIERRA ZONES MONDAY AND TUESDAY...WITH BETTER
CHANCES OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS.

THIS TROUGH WILL MOST NOTABLY BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF GUSTY WINDS
TO THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERT AREAS. GRADIENTS WILL
REALLY PICK UP ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY WITH THE HIGHEST WINDS LIKELY
LATE MONDAY AND AGAIN LATE TUESDAY IN EASTERN KERN COUNTY AND
ALONG THE WEST SIDE OF THE VALLEY. A WIND ADVISORY IS ALREADY IN
EFFECT FOR THE KERN MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS WHERE WINDS HAVE ALREADY
PICKED UP OVER 40 MPH ATTM...AND WILL CONTINUE AT TIMES THROUGH
TUESDAY. WE STILL HAVE LOW CONFIDENCE IN REACHING WARNING CRITERIA
IN KERN COUNTY SO WILL CONTINUE WITH THE SOLIDLY WORDED ADVISORY
THERE. THERE IS ALSO A DECENT PROBABILITY OF REACHING WIND
ADVISORY LEVELS ALONG THE WEST SIDE OF THE VALLEY AND IN THE
MERCED AREA. BLOWING DUST WILL ALSO BE A CONCERN IN THESE AREAS
WITH POSSIBLE TRAVEL IMPACTS.

THE LATTER HALF OF NEXT WEEK WILL BE DRY WITH TEMPERATURES TRENDING
UPWARD AGAIN...AS HIGH PRESSURE REBUILDS OVER THE REGION. BY THE END
OF THE WEEK...EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO RETURN TO AS MUCH AS 10-15
DEGREES ABOVE CLIMO.

&&

.AVIATION...
VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. GUSTY WINDS
WILL BE PREVALENT THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS ACROSS THE REGION. THE
STRONGEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY WITH GUSTS TO 40
KTS IN PARTS OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND GUSTS TO 50 KTS IN
EASTERN KERN COUNTY. BLOWING SAND AND DUST COULD REDUCE VISIBILITY
TO MVFR OR IFR IN LOCAL AREAS OF THE WESTERN MOJAVE DESERT.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
NONE.

&&

.CERTAINTY...

THE LEVEL OF CERTAINTY FOR DAYS 1 AND 2 IS MEDIUM.
THE LEVEL OF CERTAINTY FOR DAYS 3 THROUGH 7 IS MEDIUM.

THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED AS PART OF A TRIAL PROJECT CONDUCTED
BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD.
CERTAINTY LEVELS INCLUDE LOW...MEDIUM...AND HIGH. PLEASE VISIT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HNX/CERTAINTY.PHP /ALL LOWER CASE/ FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION AND/OR TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK.

&&

.CLIMATE...
             RECORDS
SITE DATE    HI_MAX:YEAR LO_MAX:YEAR HI_MIN:YEAR LO_MIN:YEAR

KFAT 04-13       97:1898     54:1998     59:1936     34:1911
KFAT 04-14       98:1985     52:1956     60:1985     36:1972
KFAT 04-15       96:1947     57:1988     62:1925     35:1970

KBFL 04-13       94:2008     57:1939     59:1930     32:1893
KBFL 04-14       99:1985     56:2003     62:1962     33:1893
KBFL 04-15       97:1994     57:2007     61:1947     36:1921
&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 11 PM PDT MONDAY CAZ095.

WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 11 PM PDT MONDAY CAZ098-099.

&&

PUBLIC...JEB
AVN/FW...BROTHERTON
SYNOPSIS...ANDERSEN

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 13, 2:50 AM PST, 15 hours 10 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
350 AM PDT SAT APR 13 2013

CAZ095-098-099-141100-
KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-
SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
350 AM PDT SAT APR 13 2013

...GUSTY TO STRONG WINDS TODAY THROUGH MONDAY...

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT
A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT BEGINNING AT 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON.
REFER TO THE LATEST NON-PRECIPITATION STATEMENT...OR
SFONPWHNX...FOR MORE DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY
A WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY. REFER TO
THE LATEST NON- PRECIPITATION STATEMENT...OR SFONPWHNX...FOR MORE
DETAILS. FROM TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED.

.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

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 13, 3:21 PM PST, 2 hours 39 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
421 PM PDT SAT APR 13 2013

...TIME...  ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
...DATE...  ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0222 PM     NON-TSTM WND GST 2 E MOJAVE              35.06N 118.15W
04/13/2013  M48 MPH          KERN               CA   MESONET

            REPORTED AT APRSWXNET STATION AT407

&&

IRIS SYSTEM

Local storm report, Apr 13, 3:33 PM PST, 2 hours 27 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
433 PM PDT SAT APR 13 2013

...TIME...  ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
...DATE...  ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0414 PM     NON-TSTM WND GST 16 NE TEHACHAPI         35.29N 118.23W
04/13/2013  M58 MPH          KERN               CA   MESONET

            REPORTED AT GOES STATION JWBC1

&&

IRIS SYSTEM

Local storm report, Apr 13, 4:51 PM PST, 1 hour 9 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
551 PM PDT SAT APR 13 2013

...TIME...  ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
...DATE...  ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0531 PM     NON-TSTM WND GST 5 NW MOJAVE             35.11N 118.24W
04/13/2013  M54 MPH          KERN               CA   MESONET

            REPORTED AT APRSWXNET STATION AU563

&&

IRIS SYSTEM

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Se Kern Cty Desert

When: April 13, 6:00 PM PST to April 14, 12:00 PM PST
Where: Se Kern Cty Desert forecast zone
Measured: 51 kt (59 mph) measured gust
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

Every storm in California in 2013 Every state in 2013 This day in weather history Warnings in California, April 2013

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: 510125.