An atmospheric river event, with several embedded short waves, impacted much of California from Thursday 5 February 2015 through Monday 9 February 2015. Due to the subtropical nature of the storm, snow levels remained very high (8000'+) throughout the storm with only a few inches reported.
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.
An atmospheric river event, with several embedded short waves, impacted much of California from Thursday 5 February 2015 through Monday 9 February 2015. Due to the subtropical nature of the storm, snow levels remained very high (8000'+) throughout the storm with only a few inches reported. Precipitation across the San Joaquin Valley ranged from a few hundredths near Bakersfield to around three-quarters of an inch near Merced. In the Sierra Nevada and foothills, rainfall amounts were generally 2 to 4 inches with the highest amount observed being 5.16 at Nature Point (west of Oakhurst). Fresno received a storm total rain amount of 0.47 and Bakersfield 0.07.
At 1130 PM on Friday 6 February 2015, a mudslide was reported by CHP east of Coarsegold resulting in a one-car accident (no injuries). Law enforcement also reported flooding on Highway 41 near Coarsegold at the same time.
This system also brought gusty winds to the west side of the San Joaquin Valley where gusts were generally 35 to 45 mph on February 6. These winds resulted in blowing dust that severely reduced visibility along Highway 41 in Kings County, closing part of the road for several hours. Wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph also occurred on February 8 into the early morning of February 9, 2015 with a few gusts to near 60 mph through the Pacheco Pass and at the Panoche Road RAWS. Winds were also gusty across the Kern County mountains and over the high elevations of the Sierra in Tulare County with gusts 40 to 50 mph.
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 6, 3:29 AM PST, 10 hours 1 minute earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
329 AM PST FRI FEB 6 2015
.SYNOPSIS...
INCREASING CLOUDS LATE TODAY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND HIGH
ELEVATION SNOW BEGINNING THIS EVENING. THE WET WEATHER WILL
CONTINUE INTO THE WEEKEND.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
STRONG COLD FRONT MOVING INTO THE NRN CA AREA WILL SLOWLY MOVE
EAST THROUGH THE DAY. CLOUDS WILL INCREASE LATER TODAY WITH
CONTINUED WARM TEMPERATURES. MODELS ARE BRINGING RAIN INTO THE
MERCED AREA BY THIS AFTERNOON. RAIN WILL SLOWLY SPREAD SOUTH
ACROSS THE CENTRAL CA INTERIOR THROUGH THIS EVENING. THE HEAVIEST
RAINFALL WILL OCCUR OVERNIGHT TONIGHT AND INTO SAT AM. SOME OF THE
06Z MODEL RUNS ARE SHOWING MORE RAIN SHADOWING THAN PREVIOUSLY
FORECAST. MODELS ARE STILL ADVERTISING MODERATE RAIN ACROSS THE
VALLEY. MUCH HEAVIER AMOUNTS IN THE FOOTHILLS AND THE SIERRA ARE
EXPECTED. SNOW LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN ABOVE 8000 FEET.
SNOW AMOUNTS WILL BE IMPRESSIVE IN THE HIGH COUNTRY AND WILL HAVE
A GREAT IMPACT ON THE SNOW PACK IN THE SIERRA.
FIRST BOUNDARY MOVES THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT AND A SECOND AND MORE
CONVECTIVE TROUGH MOVES THROUGH ON SUNDAY. WE ARE EXPECTING NUMEROUS
THUNDERSTORMS ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS THE TROUGH MOVES
THROUGH. SPC HAS US IN A SEE TEXT AREA FOR MOST OF THE CENTRAL CA
INTERIOR SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. PRIMARY THREAT LOOKS TO BE
SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS WITH POSSIBLE FUNNEL CLOUDS. CAPES ARE
OVER 750 J/KG AND LI'S ARE AROUND -2 TO -4 OVER MOST OF THE
VALLEY. LINE MOVES THROUGH BY MIDNIGHT WITH SOME ISOL THUNDER
THROUGH 4 AM. BOUNDARY MOVES OUT BY MONDAY AM AND SHOWERS ENDING
IN THE AFTERNOON. CYCLONIC NORTHEAST FLOW WILL KEEP THE AREA
MIXED OUT FOR ANY WIDESPREAD FOG DEVELOPMENT MONDAY NIGHT. HOWEVER
UPPER RIDGE WILL BUILD IN WITH FOG DEVELOPING TUESDAY NIGHT WITH
POSSIBLE DENSE FOG IN AREAS IN THE SJV. THE FOG PATTERN SETS IN
FOR THE REMAINDER OF NEXT WEEK WITH MORE SEASONAL TEMPS AND DRY
CONDITIONS.
&&
.AVIATION...IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...MOSTLY VFR CONDITIONS WITH
LOCAL MVFR VISIBILITY IN HAZE UNTIL THE ONSET OF RAIN AFTER 21Z FRI.
WINDS GUSTING TO 25 KNOTS. MOUNTAIN OBSCURING IFR CONDITIONS
SPREADING ACROSS THE SIERRA NEVADA AFTER 15Z FRI...AS THE CHANCES OF
PRECIPITATION INCREASES. VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED ELSEWHERE IN
THE CENTRAL CA INTERIOR 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 02-06 73:1930 45:1989 52:1898 24:1899
KFAT 02-07 77:1930 45:1929 53:2012 24:1989
KFAT 02-08 74:1987 41:1989 53:1993 28:1891
KBFL 02-06 77:1930 45:1989 55:1978 27:1989
KBFL 02-07 81:1987 46:1967 53:2012 26:1989
KBFL 02-08 77:1917 46:1939 53:1963 23:1929
&&
.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 4 PM PST
SATURDAY ABOVE 8000 FEET FOR THE CAZ096.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 PM PST SATURDAY CAZ089-091-095.
&&
PUBLIC...JDB
AVN/FW...DS
SYNOPSIS...JDB
WEATHER.GOV/HANFORDHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 612 AM PST FRI FEB 6 2015 CAZ089-091-071415- WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- 612 AM PST FRI FEB 6 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE WEST SIDE OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. ...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM PST SATURDAY... ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE ON SUNDAY... .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT * SEE SFPNPWHNX FOR MORE DETAILS CONCERNING WIND ADVISORY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY * HAZARD: STRONG THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE. * WINDS: GUSTY WINDS TO 30 MPH IN THUNDERSTORMS. * TIMING: SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. * LOCATIONS INCLUDE: LOS BANOS...MENDOTA...COALINGA...RIVERDALE ...HANFORD...LEMOORE...CORCORAN. * IMPACTS: MINOR STREET FLOODING IN HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL ...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...POSSIBLE FUNNEL CLOUDS. * STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR YOUR FAVORITE NEWS SOURCE...FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE ANTICIPATED. WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT OR UNUSUAL CONDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. CAZ090-092-071415- EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- 612 AM PST FRI FEB 6 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE EAST SIDE OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE ON SUNDAY... .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY * HAZARD: STRONG THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE. * WINDS: GUSTY WINDS TO 30 MPH IN THUNDERSTORMS. * TIMING: SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. * LOCATIONS INCLUDE: MERCED...MADERA...FRESNO...SANGER...VISALIA ...TULARE...DELANO. * IMPACTS: MINOR STREET FLOODING IN HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL ...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...POSSIBLE FUNNEL CLOUDS. * STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR YOUR FAVORITE NEWS SOURCE...FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE ANTICIPATED. WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT OR UNUSUAL CONDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. JDB
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind, 1 dust storm, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Winds gusts of 35 to 45 mph caused areas of blowing dust along and near Highway 41 in Kings County. The dust severely reduced visibility, resulting in closure of Highway 41 between Jackson and Kansas Avenues.
Rainfall of 1 to 1.5 inches resulted in roadway flooding along Highway 41 near Coarsegold and a small mudslide 7 miles SSE of Coarsegold.
Winds gusts of 45 to 60 mph recorded at Pacheco Pass.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 559389, 559391, 559388, 559386.