Dust Storm in California, June 15, 2014

Name: Dust Storm in California, June 15, 2014
Start: 2014-06-15T17:48
End: 2014-06-15T20:06
Location: California

June 15, 2014 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A deep marine push through the coastal range created blowing dust in western Kings and Kern Counties. The California Highway Patrol reported visibility between 100 and 500 feet in blowing dust on Highway 46 near Highway 43 in Kern County, resulting in separate 4-vehicle and 2-vehicle accidents.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $60,000
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.

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 Jun 15, 2:18 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 15, 2:18 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
318 PM PDT SUN JUN 15 2014

.SYNOPSIS...
AN ONSHORE WIND FLOW WILL KEEP LOCAL TEMPERATURES SEASONAL FOR THE
NEXT COUPLE DAY. SLIGHT WARMING BY MIDWEEK AHEAD OF ANOTHER COOLDOWN
BY THE WEEKEND
&&

.DISCUSSION...TROUGH AXIS IS NOW BEGINNING TO BOTTOM OUT OVER
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AND THE MID AND UPPER LEVEL WINDS HAVE
INCREASED QUITE A BIT OUT OF THE WEST. IN THE SHORT TERM, WIND
WILL BE THE MAIN ISSUE WITH FORECAST MODELS CRANKING UP WINDS
THROUGH THE PASSES TO THE WEST OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY LATER
THIS AFTERNOON. COULD EASILY SEE GUSTS TO OVER 45 MPH AT PACHECO
AND COTTONWOOD PASSES AND BLOWING DUST IS A REAL CONCERN INTO THE
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY IN A POSSIBLE SIMILAR FASHION AS LAST WEEKS
DUST STORM. THE WIND ADVISORY TAKES EFFECT AT 5 PM.

WINDS ALSO LOOK SIGNIFICANT OVER THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND
DESERT AND WILL NEED TO ISSUE A WIND ADVISORY FOR ZONE 98
BEGINNING THIS EVENING. BY TOMORROW A RELATIVELY DEEP UPPER LOW
IS PROGGED TO FORM OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES WITH THE UPPER LEVEL
FLOW TURNING TO THE NORTHWEST AND THEN BY TUESDAY THE NORTH. AN
OFFSHORE FLOW THEN SETS UP FOR WEDNESDAY A SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE
BUILDS OVER THE GREAT BASIN. RIDGING IS THEN PROGGED BY ALL MODELS
TO BUILD OVER THE WEST THURSDAY FOR A WARM UP HOWEVER THIS WILL BE
SHORT LIVED AS THE WESTERLIES QUICKLY BREAK THROUGH WITH A TROUGH
PASSAGE ON FRIDAY.

&&

.AVIATION...
GUSTS UP TO 35 KTS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN WESTERN KERN COUNTY AND
SOUTHWESTERN KINGS COUNTY BETWEEN 00Z AND 09Z WITH LOCAL MVFR
CONDITIONS IN BLOWING DUST. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS WILL
PREVAIL ACROSS THE AREA DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
PLEASE SEE SFOAQAHNX

&&

.CERTAINTY...

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

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 06-15      109:1961     68:1995     77:2000     47:1907
KFAT 06-16      110:1961     71:1921     74:1985     46:1995
KFAT 06-17      109:2012     68:1909     77:2012     49:1939

KBFL 06-15      113:1961     69:1923     80:1966     40:1907
KBFL 06-16      113:1961     72:1995     78:1982     43:1913
KBFL 06-17      109:1961     77:2005     79:1982     44:1913
&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 2 AM PDT MONDAY CAZ091.

WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 2 AM PDT MONDAY CAZ098.

&&

PUBLIC...DUDLEY
AVN/FW...DUDLEY
SYNOPSIS...WP

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 15, 4:29 PM PST, 1 hour 19 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY CA
529 PM PDT SUN JUN 15 2014

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

0527 PM     DUST STORM       TAFT                    35.14N 119.46W
06/15/2014                   KERN               CA   TRAINED SPOTTER

            BLOWING DUST FROM TAFT TO INTERSTATE 5 AND FROM METTLER
            TO THE BASE OF THE GRAPEVINE. VISIBILITY LESS THAN 1/4
            MILE WITH SOME VISIBILITIES LESS THAN 30 FEET.

&&

SANGER

Local storm report, Jun 15, 4:30 PM PST, 1 hour 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
530 PM PDT SUN JUN 15 2014

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

0513 PM     NON-TSTM WND GST 12 WNW MCKITTRICK       35.36N 119.82W
06/15/2014  M60 MPH          KERN               CA   MESONET

            MESONET STATION TWISSELMAN /TWMC1/

&&

NWS HANFORD CA
IRIS SYSTEM

Local storm report, Jun 15, 5:07 PM PST, 41 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
607 PM PDT SUN JUN 15 2014

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

0427 PM     NON-TSTM WND GST 20 WSW INYOKERN         35.54N 118.14W
06/15/2014  M58 MPH          KERN               CA   MESONET

            MESONET STATION BIRD SPRINGS PASS /BIJC1/

&&

NWS HANFORD CA
IRIS SYSTEM

Event by event

1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Dust Storm, Sw S.J. Valley

When: June 15, 5:48 PM PST to 8:06 PM PST
Where: Sw S.J. Valley forecast zone
Property damage: $60,000
Reported by: Law Enforcement

What these are

Dust Storm: Blowing dust that reduced visibility to a quarter mile or less.

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, June 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: 517640.