High Wind and Dense Fog in California, November 21 to 22, 2014

Name: High Wind and Dense Fog in California, November 21 to 22, 2014
Start: 2014-11-21T01:00
End: 2014-11-22T19:00
Location: California

November 21 to 22, 2014 · NWS HNX · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

A series of weak storm systems moved through central California on November 19-22. Although these storms did not bring much precipitation, they did bring gusty winds over the Kern County mountains and desert areas with gusts over 45 mph.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $2,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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 storms also brought enough moisture for areas of dense fog to develop in the San Joaquin Valley during the early morning hours of the 21st. Visibility lowered to less than 1/4 mile with a few areas reporting visibility less than 500 feet.

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 Nov 20, 10:30 PM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 20, 10:30 PM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
1030 PM PST THU NOV 20 2014

.UPDATE...
ADDED MENTION OF SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY FOG TO TONIGHT AND FRIDAY
MORNING.

&&

.SYNOPSIS...
A COUPLE OF WEAK FRONTAL SYSTEMS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA TONIGHT
THROUGH SATURDAY PRODUCING A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION TO MUCH OF THE
AREA. DRY CONDITIONS WITH PATCHY MORNING FOG EXPECTED FOR NEXT
SEVERAL DAYS AFTER FINAL FRONTAL PASSAGE.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
LIGHT PRECIPITATION MOVED THROUGH INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. RAINFALL AMOUNTS ON THE CENTRAL AND
SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY FLOOR WERE ONLY A FEW HUNDREDTHS OF AN
INCH...BUT THIS WAS ENOUGH TO TRIGGER THE DEVELOPMENT OF PATCHY
DENSE FOG IN THE MERCED-ATWATER AREA LATE THIS EVENING AS SKIES
CLEARED.

SKIES OVER THE VALLEY WILL CONTINUE TO CLEAR OVERNIGHT...BECOMING
PARTLY CLOUDY. THIS WILL ALLOW CONTINUED FOG DEVELOPMENT. HAVE
UPDATED THE FORECAST TO ADD PATCHY FOG OVERNIGHT...INCREASING TO
AREAS OF FOG BY SUNRISE WITH EMBEDDED PATCHY DENSE FOG...MAINLY IN
MERCED COUNTY AND ALONG THE HIGHWAY 198 CORRIDOR.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 430 PM PST THU NOV 20 2014/

DISCUSSION...
IMPRESSIVE LOW CENTER AND ASSOCIATED FRONT ARE MOVING EAST INTO
THE CENCAL COAST. REGIONAL RADAR IS INDICATING THAT THE BACK EDGE
OF THE HEAVIER PRECIP HAS MOVED THROUGH THE BAY AREA AND CONTS TO
MAKE ITS WAY INLAND. RAIN WILL SPREAD SOUTH TO NORTH THIS EVENING
AND OVERNIGHT AS THE FRONT PUSHES THROUGH.

MODELS ARE PUSHING THE FRONT THROUGH FRESNO BY MIDNIGHT. RAIN WILL
SPREAD OVER THE REGION AND GRADUALLY INCREASE BY MIDNIGHT IN
FRESNO. THE FRONT WILL FALL APART AS IT MOVES SOUTH AND
RAIN SHADOWING IS EXPECTED NEAR TAFT AND SW SJV. WE ARE LOOKING
AT UPSLOPE CLOUDS AND DZ TOMORROW IN THE FOOTHILLS AND SOME LIGHT
SHOWERS POSSIBLE IN THE SOUTH VALLEY. HIGH RES MODELS ARE REALLY
KEYING IN ON THIS FOR FRIDAY. RAINFALL AMOUNTS IN THE VALLEY ARE
EXPECTED TO LESS THAN A TENTH OF AN INCH...WITH MOST AREAS ONLY
GETTING A FEW HUNDREDTHS. HIGHER ELEVATIONS CAN SEE UP TO A
QUARTER OF AN INCH NEAR YOSEMITE AND LESS AS YOU GO FURTHER SOUTH
TOWARDS LAKE ISABELLA.

MODELS ARE BRINGING IN THE FINAL SYSTEM IN ON FRIDAY NIGHT AND
EARLY SATURDAY. UNFORTUNATELY THE BULK OF THE MOISTURE WILL REMAIN
NORTH OF THE AREA WITH THIS ONE WITH LITTLE PRECIP OVER CENTRAL CA
EXPECTED. MODELS ARE NOT DIGGING MUCH OF A TROUGH WITH THE FRIDAY
NIGHT/SAT SYSTEM...SO IT WILL ALSO BE A WARM SYSTEM WITH HIGH SNOW
LEVELS REMAINING AT 8500-9500 FEET. WE ARE LOOKING FOR AROUND A
QUARTER OF AN INCH IN YOSEMITE WITH THIS SYSTEM AND ONLY A FEW
HUNDREDTHS NORTH OF FRESNO COUNTY IN THE VALLEY.

UPPER HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE BUILDS BACK IN FOR MONDAY AND CONTINUES
THROUGH WEDNESDAY WITH VALLEY FOG EXPECTED AND SEASONAL
TEMPERATURES. THERE IS CONSIDERABLE UNCERTAINTY FOR THE
THANKSGIVING TRAVEL PERIOD WED AND THURS. THE ECM IS DIGGING IN A
TROUGH WITH MAINLY MOUNTAIN PRECIP AND THE GFS ENSEMBLE IS WARM
AND DRY. THE WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER IS PUTTING IN SOME QPF FOR
THAT TIME FRAME AND WE ARE TAKING A BLEND OF GUIDANCE AND GOING
WITH CLIMO POPS FOR WED AND THURSDAY WHICH KEEPS THE VALLEY DRY.

&&

.AVIATION...
IFR CONDITIONS AND MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS ARE LIKELY IN THE SOUTHERN
SIERRA NEVADA. AREAS OF MVFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES WITH LOCAL
IFR IN LOW CLOUDS AND MIST IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...SOUTHERN
SIERRA FOOTHILLS AND TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS
CAN BE EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
NONE.

&&

.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 11-20       80:1936     51:1972     62:1950     27:1977
KFAT 11-21       81:2002     48:1931     60:1950     30:1956
KFAT 11-22       77:1890     48:1931     57:1950     28:1931

KBFL 11-20       83:1926     49:1922     64:1950     27:1906
KBFL 11-21       83:1926     48:1931     61:1996     26:1905
KBFL 11-22       80:1945     45:1906     59:1950     27:1931

&&

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

&&

PUBLIC...SANGER
AVN/FW...DS
PREV DISCUSSION...JDB
SYNOPSIS...WP

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Event by event

3 dense fog, 1 high wind, 1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Dense Fog, E Central S.J. Valley

When: November 21, 1:00 AM PST to 8:48 AM PST
Where: E Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Dense Fog, Se S.J. Valley

When: November 21, 3:30 AM PST to 8:48 AM PST
Where: Se S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Dense Fog, Sw S.J. Valley

When: November 21, 6:00 AM PST to 8:48 AM PST
Where: Sw S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

High Wind, Kern Cty Mtns

When: November 22, 10:30 AM PST to 7:00 PM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Measured: 51 kt (59 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind, Se Kern Cty Desert

When: November 22, 10:30 AM PST to 7:00 PM PST
Where: Se Kern Cty Desert forecast zone
Measured: 45 kt (52 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: Mesonet

What these are

Dense Fog: Fog reducing visibility to a quarter mile or less, filed where it caused accidents or disruption.
High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
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, November 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: 545988, 545990, 545989, 545985, 545986.