California, 2015

Drought in California, June 1 to 30, 2015

June 1 to 30, 2015 · NWS HNX · 11 events in 11 counties and zones

The California drought continues in full force during the month of June, 2015. Temperatures continued to average above normal.

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 continues in full force during the month of June, 2015. Temperatures continued to average above normal. While there was some precipitation in June, it was not uniformly distributed. Fresno received 0.01 of an inch of rain, while Bakersfield received 0.08 inches. Seasonal rainfall amounts for the lower elevations were 0 to 50 percent of normal, while the higher elevations were generally around normal for the month.

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 has continued through the first few months of 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. Also, communities in Central California interior face state mandated reductions in municipal water use.

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 May 31, 3:42 PM PST, 8 hours 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 31, 3:42 PM PST, 8 hours 18 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
442 PM PDT SUN MAY 31 2015

.UPDATE...UPDATED AIR QUALITY SECTION.

&&

.SYNOPSIS...PASSING HIGH CLOUDS AND WARM TEMPERATURES EXPECTED TO
DAY. COOLER TEMPERATURES BY MONDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE BEGINS TO MOVE
EAST. GUSTY WINDS ALONG THE WEST SIDE OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
TONIGHT AS COOL MARINE AIR RUSHES IN THROUGH THE PASSES.

&&

.DISCUSSION...THE CHANGE TO COOLER TEMPERATURES IS ALREADY
UNDERWAY WITH PACHECO PASS NOW 20 DEGREES COOLER THAN YESTERDAY AT
THIS TIME. COOLING IS CAUSED BY TWO MECHANISMS, THE FIRST LOWERED
HEIGHTS ALOFT AS A VIGOROUS LATE MAY STORM SYSTEM APPROACHES THE
CALIFORNIA COAST, BUT TAKES AIM WELL TO THE NORTH. THE SECOND IS A
DEEP MARINE LAYER ALONG THE COAST AND AS ONSHORE PRESSURE
GRADIENTS INCREASE, THE COOL AIR IS SURGING THROUGH THE PASSES. BY
THIS AFTERNOON, ALL AREAS WITH MARINE INFLUENCES, INCLUDING
PACHECO PASS, COTTONWOOD PASS AND THE KERN COUNTY PORTION OF THE
ANTELOPE VALLEY WILL SEE INCREASED WINDS AND COOLING. A WIND
ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR AREAS BELOW PASSES IN THE WEST SAN
JOAQUIN VALLEY THOUGH THIS EVENING.

FOR MONDAY, THE TEMPERATURES AREA WIDE WILL BE 10-15 DEGREES LOWER
AS THE PACIFIC SYSTEM MOVES INLAND ACROSS OREGON. A ZONAL FLOW OF
AIR FROM THE PACIFIC IS PROGGED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY WITH
LITTLE CHANGE IN TEMPERATURE TRENDS BEFORE A NOW MORE LIKELY
CLOSED LOW SCENARIO SETS UP FOR FRIDAY. OPERATIONAL RUNS OF
FORECAST MODELS ARE NOW AGREEING THAT INDEED A LOW WILL CLOSE OFF
OVER CALIFORNIA ON FRIDAY AND THIS IS BEING BACKED UP BY THE MODEL
ENSEMBLE PROJECTIONS AS THE TREND IS NOW FOR THE LOW PRESSURE
SOLUTION. GIVEN THIS, THUNDERSTORMS IN THE SIERRA, KERN COUNTY
MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS ON FRIDAY ARE BECOMING MORE CERTAIN AND POPS
HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED OR INCREASED ACCORDINGLY.

&&

.AVIATION...
LOCAL MVFR CEILINGS ARE POSSIBLE IN MERCED COUNTY BETWEEN 12Z AND
18Z MONDAY. ADDITIONALLY...WIND GUSTS OF 35 KNOTS OR GREATER CAN BE
EXPECTED THROUGH AND BELOW THE MOUNTAIN PASSES OF KERN COUNTY AND
THE WEST SIDE OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY THIS EVENING. OTHERWISE...
VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGHOUT THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
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 05-31      110:1910     68:1971     72:1910     46:1923
KFAT 06-01      105:1910     60:1953     71:2001     44:1955
KFAT 06-02      106:1960     67:1985     70:1960     45:1902

KBFL 05-31      110:1910     70:1967     76:2002     44:1923
KBFL 06-01      110:1970     65:1953     75:1970     39:1908
KBFL 06-02      109:1970     66:1999     78:1960     38:1908
&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM PDT THIS EVENING CAZ089-091.

&&

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

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Event by event

11 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, W Central S.J. Valley

When
June 1, 12:00 AM PST to June 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where
W Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by
Emergency Manager

Drought, E Central S.J. Valley

When
June 1, 12:00 AM PST to June 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where
E Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by
Emergency Manager

Drought, Sw S.J. Valley

When
June 1, 12:00 AM PST to June 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where
Sw S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by
Emergency Manager

Drought, Se S.J. Valley

When
June 1, 12:00 AM PST to June 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where
Se S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by
Emergency Manager

Drought, S Sierra Foothills

When
June 1, 12:00 AM PST to June 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where
S Sierra Foothills forecast zone
Reported by
Emergency Manager

Drought, Tulare Cty Foothills

When
June 1, 12:00 AM PST to June 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where
Tulare Cty Foothills forecast zone
Reported by
Emergency Manager

Drought, Kern Cty Mtns

When
June 1, 12:00 AM PST to June 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where
Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by
Emergency Manager

Drought, S Sierra Mtns

When
June 1, 12:00 AM PST to June 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where
S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
Reported by
Emergency Manager

Drought, Tulare Cty Mtns

When
June 1, 12:00 AM PST to June 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where
Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by
Emergency Manager

Drought, Indian Wells Vly

When
June 1, 12:00 AM PST to June 30, 11:59 PM PST
Where
Indian Wells Vly forecast zone
Reported by
Emergency Manager

Drought, Se Kern Cty Desert

When
June 1, 12:00 AM PST to June 30, 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

More

Every storm in California in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in California, June 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: 586912, 586913, 586914, 586915, 586916, 586917, 586918, 586919, 586920, 586921, 586922.