The persistent high pressure over region began to break down on February 21, 2015, allowing a low pressure system to drop south into Central California on Sunday, February 22, directly over the San Joaquin Valley. The storm system lingered over the area through Monday, February 23.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS HNX wrote it up.
The persistent high pressure over region began to break down on February 21, 2015, allowing a low pressure system to drop south into Central California on Sunday, February 22, directly over the San Joaquin Valley. The storm system lingered over the area through Monday, February 23. The storm brought showers and thunderstorms to the San Joaquin Valley and Sierra Foothills. The showers and|thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall across parts of Kern County where flood|advisories were issued due to ponding of water on roadways. These advisories included the south end of the San Joaquin Valley as well as the Kern County mountain and desert areas.
The upper level-low persisted until the 23rd, and wrap-around moisture flowed from the northeast into the east side of the San Joaquin Valley. Snow levels were fairly constant around 5000 feet over Kern and Tulare Counties during the 22nd-23rd. Around 5 to 10 inches of snow fell over the mountains of Kern and Tulare Counties, mainly during the afternoon of the 22nd and into the morning of the 23rd, and mainly above 6000 feet. A few snow showers persisted over the Sierra Nevada into the afternoon of the 23rd with a few locations in the high Sierra receiving 12 to 20 inches of snow over the two days. In addition, some instability showers and isolated thunderstorms developed in western Kern County around midday on the 23rd. One of the thunderstorms produced a brief weak tornado to the southwest of Belridge, or northwest of Taft, in the hills of the Temblor Range facing the southwestern San Joaquin Valley. There were reports of small hail about 0.25 inch in diameter reported with these thunderstorms.
Storm total rainfall amounts during the 22nd-23rd were around 0.5 to one inch over the San Joaquin Valley from Fresno southward, up to one inch of rain fell in the desert areas, and around 1 to 1.5 inches (with some locally higher amounts) fell over the southern Sierra Nevada and adjacent foothills mainly below 5000 feet. The Tehachapi Mountains received around one quarter to one-half inch of rain, including a few inches of snow above 5000 feet.
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 Feb 22, 3:00 AM PST, 11 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
300 AM PST SUN FEB 22 2015
.SYNOPSIS...
A STORM SYSTEM WILL DEVELOP OVER THE REGION TODAY AND LINGER THROUGH
MONDAY EVENING BRINGING RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW ALONG WITH COLDER
TEMPERATURES. DRY WEATHER WILL RETURN TO THE AREA TUESDAY AND
CONTINUE THROUGH THE REST OF NEXT WEEK.
&&
.DISCUSSION...SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS CLOUDS FORMING OVER THE
SIERRA AS UPWARD LIFT IS ENHANCING AS THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM
DEEPENS OVER THE REGION. INTERESTING SCENARIO THIS TIME AS IN THIS
UNUSUAL YEAR, THE WEATHER SYSTEM IS ACTUALLY STRENGTHENING OVER
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AFTER TRACKING SOUTHWEST FROM THE CANADIAN
PRAIRIES. GOTTA GIVE IT UP TO THE FORECAST MODELS, WHICH BEGAN TO
SHOW THIS WEATHER SITUATION AS EARLY AS A WEEK AGO, HOWEVER MANY
MANY VARIABLES HAD TO FALL INTO PLACE FOR THE STORM TO ACTUALLY
HAPPEN. GIVEN THAT, THE VERY SHORT TERM, HIGH RESOLUTION MODELS
START RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS LATER THIS MORNING WITH A
RATHER WIDESPREAD EVENT THIS AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT. WITH THE
SOURCE REGION OF THE AIRMASS BEING FROM THE NORTH, SNOW LEVELS
WILL FALL TO AROUND 5500 FEET OR LESS BY MONDAY.
SOME NOTABLE TRICKS TO THIS FORECAST INCLUDE, AMOUNT OF
PRECIPITATION, THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT AND THE AERIAL COVERAGE OF
THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION. HERE WE GO. AS FOR AMOUNTS OF EXPECTED
PRECIPITATION, FORECAST MODELS ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE WITH AMOUNTS
RANGING FROM LIGHT AMOUNTS WITH TARGETED HEAVY POCKETS ON THE NAM
MODEL, TO THE GFS WHICH PROJECTS A MUCH WETTER AND WIDESPREAD
EVENT OVER ESPECIALLY KERN COUNTY. I HAVE GONE SOMEWHERE IN THE
MIDDLE OF THE RANGE IN THE CURRENT FORECAST WHICH DOES GENERATE
ENOUGH SNOW OVER THE MOUNTAINS FOR A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR
PARTS OF THE REGION. WHAT IS CONSISTENT BETWEEN MODELS IS THE
TARGETING OF THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE REGION FOR THE HEAVIEST
POTENTIAL RAIN AND SNOW. AGAIN, THIS IS A DEVELOPING SITUATION,
NOT A WELL FORMED PACIFIC SYSTEM WHICH IS BEING TIMED AND TRACKED
INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA, THUS AMOUNTS OF RAIN AND SNOW MAY NEED TO
BE UPDATED.
AS FOR THE THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY IN
THIS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT BLOOM PERIOD, THE THREAT IS REAL WITH
MODELS GENERATING ENOUGH INSTABILITY BOTH THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY
EVENING AND AGAIN ON MONDAY. TODAY'S THUNDER THREAT LOOKS A LITTLE
FARTHER NORTH THAN MONDAY HOWEVER BOTH DAYS LOOK FAVORABLE.
BY MONDAY EVENING, MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT IN MOVING THE
SYSTEM TO THE EAST, EFFECTIVELY ENDING ANY RAIN OR MOUNTAIN SNOW.
THE UPCOMING WEEK LOOKS DRY WITH ANOTHER POTENTIAL INTERESTING
SYSTEM FOR NEXT WEEKEND.
&&
.AVIATION...
SCATTERED SHOWERS DEVELOPING SUNDAY MORNING OVER MUCH OF THE DISTRICT
WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE IN THE AFTERNOON. AREAS OF
MOUNTAIN OBCURATIONS ACROSS THE SOUTHERN SIERRA THROUGH 12Z MON.
MOUNTAIN OBSCURATION EXTENDING INTO THE TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS AFTER
18Z. MVFR CIGS ACROSS THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. MVFR CONDITIONS
AND SHRA EXTENDING INTO THE KERN COUNTY DESERT AFTER 21Z.
&&
.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 22 2015... FIREPLACE/WOOD STOVE BURNING STATUS
IS: NO BURNING UNLESS REGISTERED 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 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 02-22 78:1989 50:1913 55:1904 30:1953
KFAT 02-23 79:1981 48:1919 55:1904 30:1942
KFAT 02-24 77:2012 48:1913 55:1917 30:1953
KBFL 02-22 87:1989 54:1944 63:1976 32:2006
KBFL 02-23 81:1981 44:1953 56:1968 31:1942
KBFL 02-24 81:2012 49:1956 58:1968 29:1908
&&
.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 10 AM PST
MONDAY CAZ097.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 10 AM PST
MONDAY CAZ095.
&&
PUBLIC...DUDLEY
AVN/FW...MV
SYNOPSIS...DUDLEY
WEATHER.GOV/HANFORDHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 525 AM PST SUN FEB 22 2015 CAZ089>094-231330- WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS- TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS- 525 AM PST SUN FEB 22 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND ADJACENT FOOTHILLS OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA. ...CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND MONDAY... .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT * TIMING: THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. * LOCATIONS INCLUDE: SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND THE SIERRA NEVADA FOOTHILLS FROM MARIPOSA TO TULARE COUNTY. * IMPACTS: LOCAL BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY ERRATIC WINDS...SMALL HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE. ANYONE OUTSIDE WHO HEARS THUNDER SHOULD TAKE SHELTER OR GO INDOORS. * STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR YOUR FAVORITE NEWS SOURCE...FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY * TIMING: MONDAY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. * LOCATIONS INCLUDE: SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND THE SIERRA NEVADA FOOTHILLS FROM MARIPOSA TO TULARE COUNTY. * IMPACTS: LOCAL BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY ERRATIC WINDS...SMALL HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE. ANYONE OUTSIDE WHO HEARS THUNDER SHOULD TAKE SHELTER OR GO INDOORS. * STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR YOUR FAVORITE NEWS SOURCE...FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NECESSARY FOR THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND ADJACENT FOOTHILLS OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND AGAIN ON MONDAY. WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT OR UNUSUAL CONDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. DUDLEY
The Vandenberg AFB radar (KVBX), 92 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:58 UTC.
4 heavy rain, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rain estimated between 0.3 to 0.6 inches resulted in water flowing across State Route 33 near Twisselman Road in the vicinity of Belridge. Water was estimated to be 6 inches deep.
Heavy rain resulted in flooding of Highway 46 between Annette Road and Kecks Road.
Rainfall amounts of 0.4 to 0.85 inches reported across the City of Bakersfield, including 0.52 inches at Meadows Field Airport. Rainfall resulted in ponding of water on roadways.
Rainfall amounts of 0.75 to 1 inch in the Ridgecrest area with public reports of ponding of water on streets.
Tornado spotted and photographed by the public. Estimated width 50 Yards with an estimated length of 1/2 mile. The duration of the tornado was estimated at 10 minutes.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for California, 2015Warnings in California, February 2015
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: 562157, 562172, 562169, 562161, 560640.