Drought in California, January 1 to 31, 2015

Name: Drought in California, January 1 to 31, 2015
Start: 2015-01-01T00:00
End: 2015-01-31T23:59
Location: California

January 1 to 31, 2015 · NWS HNX · 11 events in 11 counties and zones

The California drought continued in full force during the month of January, 2015. Precipitation fell on only a few days of the month, and mostly across Kern County.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 11

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 California drought continued in full force during the month of January, 2015. Precipitation fell on only a few days of the month, and mostly across Kern County. Snowfall in the Sierra Nevada was limited to the highest elevations due to the warm nature of the storms that did move through. Temperatures remained well above normal throughout central California.

The U.S. Drought Monitor continued to report exceptional drought conditions across the entire Central California region. This extent of exceptional drought is extremely unusual for California. The 2013-2014 water year (July 1 - June 30) concluded with Fresno setting its second driest on record (4.81 inches) and Bakersfield setting its third driest (2.41 inches). For the calendar year, 2014 was the warmest year on record for Fresno and Bakersfield. The trend of below normal precipitation and above normal temperatures continued into 2015.

There continues to be significant media coverage on the on-going drought conditions. These reports include discussion of significant re-allocation of water resources from the east to west side of the San Joaquin Valley, farmers forgoing planting of some crops, a decrease in the snow-related tourism activity in the Southern Sierra Nevada, reduction in air quality due to persistent stagnant air, loss or reduction of ground water, wells drying up in several communities leaving them with no water, and an unprecedented increase in fire danger across the Southern Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi Mountains.

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 Dec 31, 4:33 PM PST, 7 hours 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 31, 4:33 PM PST, 7 hours 27 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
433 PM PST WED DEC 31 2014

.UPDATE...UPDATED AIR QUALITY SECTION.

&&

.SYNOPSIS...AN ARCTIC AIR MASS WILL BLANKET THE CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA INTERIOR THROUGH NEW YEARS DAY WITH BELOW FREEZING
MINIMUM TEMPERATURES AND UNSEASONABLY CHILLY AFTERNOON
TEMPERATURES. A WARMING TREND WILL BEGIN FRIDAY AND CONTINUE
THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN FROM THE
PACIFIC. OTHERWISE...DRY WEATHER CAN BE EXPECTED FOR THE NEXT
SEVERAL DAYS

&&

.DISCUSSION...ARCTIC AIR CONTINUES TO INFILTRATE THE CENTRAL CA
INTERIOR THIS AFTERNOON BEHIND A STORM SYSTEM NOW CENTERED JUST
SOUTH OF LAS VEGAS. A NORTHEASTERLY FLOW ALOFT HAS BROUGHT VERY
DRY AIR INTO THE HIGHER TERRAIN SINCE YESTERDAY WHERE RELATIVE
HUMIDITIES HAVE BEEN IN THE LOW TO MIDDLE TEENS. A POWERFUL 300 MB
JET ALIGNED IN THE NORTHEASTERLY FLOW ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTION
OF OUR CWA HAS SUPPORTED STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS OVER THE HIGHER
ELEVATIONS OF THE SIERRA NORTH OF FRESNO COUNTY DURING THE PAST 24
HRS. FORTUNATELY WINDS WILL FINALLY DIMINISH IN THIS REGION BY
EARLY THIS EVENING AS THE STORM IN WESTERN ARIZONA DRIFTS EASTWARD
AND A SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER IDAHO SETTLES SOUTHWARD
INTO THE GREAT BASIN.

MEANWHILE...CLOUDS THAT HAVE BEEN NESTLED ALONG THE WEST SLOPES
OF THE MOUNTAINS FROM FRESNO COUNTY TO KERN COUNTY...INCLUDING
THE EAST SIDE OF THE SJ VLY...HAVE BEEN SLOW TO DISSIPATE TODAY.
THESE CLOUDS WILL CONTINUE TO ERODE AS DRIER AIR GRADUALLY FINDS
ITS WAY INTO THIS WIND SHADOWED REGION THIS EVENING. THIS IS ALSO
AN AREA THAT HAS A BETTER CHANCE OF ESCAPING A HARD FREEZE LATE
TONIGHT WHERE DEWPOINTS HAVE BEEN RUNNING SEVERAL DEGREES HIGHER
THAN THE REMAINDER OF THE SJ VLY (30S AS OPPOSED TO UPPER TEENS
AND 20S) ELSEWHERE...TONIGHT WILL MOST LIKELY END UP BEING THE
COLDEST NIGHT THIS WINTER SEASON. PREDAWN TEMPERATURES IN THE
COLDEST LOCATIONS WILL RANGE FROM THE MID TEENS IN THE KERN COUNTY
DESERT TO THE LOWER 20S IN THE SJ VLY.

THERE IS VERY GOOD AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE OPERATIONAL RUNS OF THE
MODELS AND THE LATEST ENSEMBLE FORECAST WHICH CONFIDENTLY BUILD
THE EPAC RIDGE INTO CENTRAL CA DURING THE NEXT 7 DAYS. SIMPLY
STATED...DRY WEATHER WILL RULE THROUGH DAY 7 WITH CLEAR NIGHTS AND
SUNNY DAYS. A TEMPERATURE MODERATION WILL BEGIN THURSDAY NIGHT AND
CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH A RETURN TO SEASONABLE
CONDITIONS BY SUNDAY. WITH TIME...THE PATTERN WILL STAGNATE UNDER
A STRENGTHENING INVERSION. NIGHTLY FROST IN THE SJ VLY WILL BE
REPLACED BY FOG WHICH WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY MORE WIDESPREAD
EACH NIGHT AND MORNING BY THE EARLY PART OF NEXT WEEK AS DEWPOINTS
RISE INTO THE 40S. AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES WILL WARM INTO THE 60S
BY NEXT WEDNESDAY...ESPECIALLY IN THE SIERRA FOOTHILLS AND THE
KERN COUNTY DESERT.

FINALLY...THE NWS SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY WISHES EVERYONE A SAFE AND
ENJOYABLE NEW YEARS EVE.

&&

.AVIATION...MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE CENTRAL
CA INTERIOR FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. HOWEVER...AREAS OF MVFR
CONDITIONS IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY IN MIST AND HAZE AFTER 01Z
TOMORROW.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...ON THURSDAY JANUARY 1 2015...
FIREPLACE/WOOD STOVE BURNING STATUS IS: NO BURNING UNLESS
REGISTERED IN FRESNO... KERN... KINGS 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 12-31       69:1997     36:1929     53:1913     23:1975
KFAT 01-01       69:1998     39:1988     59:1997     21:1976
KFAT 01-02       70:1948     36:1961     57:1997     20:1976

KBFL 12-31       73:1913     39:1919     53:1981     19:1929
KBFL 01-01       74:1997     39:1961     57:1997     19:1930
KBFL 01-02       82:2012     37:1961     57:1997     19:1930
&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
HARD FREEZE WARNING FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO 9 AM PST THURSDAY
CAZ089>092.

&&

PUBLIC...DURFEE
AVN/FW...MOLINA
PREV DISCUSSION...DURFEE
SYNOPSIS...ANDERSEN

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

In the hours before

Local storm report, Dec 31, 7:39 PM PST, 4 hours 21 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
739 PM PST WED DEC 31 2014

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

1200 PM     NON-TSTM WND DMG 4 E HUNTINGTON LAKE     37.24N 119.16W
12/31/2014                   FRESNO             CA   NEWSPAPER

            40 PEOPLE STRANDED 2 HRS ON #6 SKI LIFT AT
            CHINA PEAK RESORT. DISABLED BY HIGH WINDS.

&&

NWS HANFORD CA
IRIS SYSTEM
JEB

Event by event

11 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, W Central S.J. Valley

When: January 1, 12:00 AM PST to January 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: W Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, E Central S.J. Valley

When: January 1, 12:00 AM PST to January 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: E Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, Sw S.J. Valley

When: January 1, 12:00 AM PST to January 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Sw S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, Se S.J. Valley

When: January 1, 12:00 AM PST to January 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Se S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, S Sierra Foothills

When: January 1, 12:00 AM PST to January 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: S Sierra Foothills forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, Tulare Cty Foothills

When: January 1, 12:00 AM PST to January 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Tulare Cty Foothills forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, Kern Cty Mtns

When: January 1, 12:00 AM PST to January 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, S Sierra Mtns

When: January 1, 12:00 AM PST to January 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, Tulare Cty Mtns

When: January 1, 12:00 AM PST to January 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, Indian Wells Vly

When: January 1, 12:00 AM PST to January 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Indian Wells Vly forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, Se Kern Cty Desert

When: January 1, 12:00 AM PST to January 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Se Kern Cty Desert forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2015 Every state in 2015 This day in weather history Warnings in California, January 2015

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: 553232, 553233, 553234, 553235, 553236, 553237, 553238, 553239, 553240, 553241, 553242.