Strong Wind in California, January 5 to 8, 2014

Name: Strong Wind in California, January 5 to 8, 2014
Start: 2014-01-05T18:00
End: 2014-01-08T23:00
Location: California

January 5 to 8, 2014 · NWS HNX · 4 events in 2 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $4,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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.

January began with an upper-level ridge of high pressure over the central California interior. This ridge persisted over the region for much of the first two-thirds of the month, with high temperatures several degrees above normal. The ridge kept a dry airmass in place, resulting in very low relative humidities in the mountains and foothills. For the first time in memory, Red Flag Warnings were issued for the Southern Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi Mountains in January.

An offshore wind pattern developed over the central California interior on January 5th. Gusty southeast winds funneled through the Grapevine into the far south end of the San Joaquin Valley on the 5th, and again on the 8th of January. A gust to 57 mph was recorded at the base of the Grapevine on January 5th. Gusts to around 45 mph were reported at Bird Spring Pass and near Mojave during the early morning hours of January 8th.

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 Jan 5, 5:42 PM PST, 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 5, 5:42 PM PST, 18 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
542 PM PST SUN JAN 5 2014

.UPDATE...
QUICK UPDATE TO THE FIRE WEATHER FORECAST TO INCLUDE A HEADLINE
FOR NEAR-CRITICAL RELATIVE HUMIDITY THROUGH MONDAY IN THE KERN
COUNTY MOUNTAINS DUE TO THE MODERATE OFF-SHORE FLOW. GUSTY WINDS
ARE ALSO LIKELY BUT NOT REACHING ADVISORY LEVELS. RH VALUES UP TO
10 HOURS BELOW 10 PERCENT ARE NEAR-RED FLAG CONDITIONS FOR KERN
COUNTY. NO OTHER CHANGES AT THIS TIME.

&&

.SYNOPSIS...
DRY WEATHER AND MILD AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES WILL PREVAIL OVER THE
AREA UNTIL TUESDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE GRADUALLY WEAKENS. A COUPLE
OF WEAK LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
AND INTO THE GREAT BASIN LATE TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY AND BRING
CLOUDIER AND COOLER WEATHER TO THE REGION WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF
PRECIPITATION OVER THE MOUNTAINS.

&&

.AVIATION...
IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...WIDESPREAD MVFR VISIBILITIES IN HAZE
WITH LOCAL IFR CONDITIONS 06Z THROUGH 19Z MONDAY.
ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...VFR CONDITIONS
DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

&&

.PREV DISC... /ISSUED 257 PM PST SUN JAN 5 2014/

DISCUSSION...
A RIDGE ALONG THE WEST COAST RESULTING IN VERY MILD TEMPERATURES
ACROSS CENTRAL CALIFORNIA TODAY. WHILE A STRONG UPPER JET CONTINUES
TO BRING COLD ARCTIC AIR OUT OF CANADA INTO THE CENTRAL U.S. THIS
IS PROVIDING MODERATE OFFSHORE GRADIENTS DUE A COLD SURFACE HIGH
BUILDING OVER THE NORTH ROCKIES. STRONGER OFFSHORE WINDS FROM THE
HIGH DESERT SHOULD PROVIDE DRIER AIR INTO THE VALLEY. THIS WILL
MITIGATE FOG THREAT OF FOG IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY WITH PATCHY
FROST MORE PROBABLE. WINDS MODELS PROG WEAKER PRESSURE GRADIENTS
THIS AFTERNOON WITH AN INCREASE TONIGHT. THUS GUSTY OFFSHORE WIND
IN THE TEHACHAPIS MAY DECREASE THIS AFTERNOON. THEN PICK AGAIN
LATER THIS EVENING. THE STRONGER WINDS HAVE BEEN LIMITED TO THE
GRAPEVINE AREA AND MAY CONTINUE INTO MONDAY MORNING. MODELS INDICATE
THAT A STORM SYSTEM CURRENTLY SITUATED OFF THE NCAL COAST WILL END
UP DOING WHAT MOST STORM SYSTEMS OVER THE PACIFIC HAS DONE DURING
THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS....RIDE OVER THE TOP OF THE RIDGE AND END
UP OVER THE PAC NW BY LATE MONDAY. MODEL KEEP RAINFALL AMOUNTS
TOWARDS THE OREGON BORDER. WHILE FLATTENING THE RIDGE AND TURNING
THE FLOW ONSHORE BY MONDAY EVENING. ANOTHER SHORT WAVE PUSHING
THROUGH NCAL TUESDAY NIGHT WILL MAINTAIN THE COOL ONSHORE FLOW.
THIS WILL RESULT IN COOLER HIGH TEMPERATURES DURING THE MIDWEEK
PERIOD. FORECAST MODELS HAVE BEEN TRENDING DRIER WITH THESE
MIDWEEK SYSTEMS WITH VERY LITTLE QPF OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. AN
UPPER LEVEL RIDGE REBUILDS BACK OVER CENTRAL CA THURSDAY NIGHT AND
FRIDAY. THE GFS AND ECM BRING ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM INTO THE PAC
NW FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY THEN TRACK IT INTO THE GREAT BASIN
NEXT SUNDAY. UNFORTUNATELY EACH MODEL RUN IS FARTHER NORTH AND
EAST WITH QPF.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
ON MONDAY JANUARY 6 2014... UNHEALTHY IN FRESNO... KERN... KINGS
AND TULARE COUNTIES. UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS IN MADERA AND
MERCED COUNTIES.  FIREPLACE/WOOD STOVE BURNING IS PROHIBITED IN
FRESNO... KERN... KINGS... MADERA... MERCED AND TULARE COUNTIES.
FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT VALLEYAIR.ORG

&&

.CERTAINTY...

THE LEVEL OF CERTAINTY FOR DAYS 1 AND 2 IS HIGH.
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 01-05       71:1927     35:1961     53:1986     20:1949
KFAT 01-06       73:1948     35:1947     53:1901     17:1913
KFAT 01-07       71:1911     36:1888     49:1941     20:1913

KBFL 01-05       74:1921     37:1947     53:1986     21:1949
KBFL 01-06       72:2001     37:1947     53:1978     16:1913
KBFL 01-07       76:1948     40:1983     50:1975     14:1913
&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&

PUBLIC...BROTHERTON
AVN/FW...MOLINA
PREV DISCUSSION...MV
SYNOPSIS...BSO

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 5, 5:08 PM PST, 52 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
508 PM PST SUN JAN 5 2014

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

0823 AM     NON-TSTM WND GST 1 NNW GRAPEVINE         34.96N 118.94W
01/05/2014  M57 MPH          KERN               CA   MESONET

            MESONET STATION GRAPEVINE CHP ALONG I-5
            /AT714/

&&

NWS HANFORD CA
IRIS SYSTEM

Event by event

4 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Strong Wind, Se S.J. Valley

When: January 5, 6:00 PM PST to 11:00 PM PST
Where: Se S.J. Valley forecast zone
Measured: 45 kt (52 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind, Kern Cty Mtns

When: January 5, 6:00 PM PST to 11:00 PM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Measured: 45 kt (52 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind, Kern Cty Mtns

When: January 8, 6:00 PM PST to 11:00 PM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Measured: 45 kt (52 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind, Se S.J. Valley

When: January 8, 6:00 PM PST to 11:00 PM PST
Where: Se S.J. Valley forecast zone
Measured: 45 kt (52 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: Mesonet

What these are

Strong Wind: Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2014 Every state in 2014 This day in weather history Warnings in California, January 2014

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: 498420, 498421, 498422, 498423.