Low pressure system moving southeastward through northern California was accompanied by a cold front that moved southeastward through central California which produced an onshore flow with increased pressure gradients producing breezy to windy conditions for the Kern County Mountains.
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.
Low pressure system moving southeastward through northern California was accompanied by a cold front that moved southeastward through central California which produced an onshore flow with increased pressure gradients producing breezy to windy conditions for the Kern County Mountains.
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 Apr 13, 2:30 PM PST, 9 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 330 PM PDT WED APR 13 2016 .SYNOPSIS... A WEAK SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO BRING LITTLE TO NO PRECIPITATION TO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA BUT WILL GENERATE GUSTY WINDS IN DESERT AREAS AND THROUGH AND BELOW MOUNTAIN PASSES TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL THEN WARM THROUGH THE WEEKEND AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE REGION. && .DISCUSSION... MORNING STARTED OFF WITH UPSLOPE CLOUDS AND LIGHT SPRINKLES FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA CAUSED BY THE ZONAL FLOW ALOFT AND A WEAK SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH. THE CLOUD BANK DID INITIALLY STRETCH NORTHWARD INTO THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY TO THE SOUTHERN FRESNO COUNTY LINE. SOME MID TO HIGH CLOUDS ALSO MOVED THROUGH ACCOMPANYING THE WEAK SYSTEM AHEAD OF THE PARENT TROUGH CURRENTLY LOCATED AROUND 45N 135W OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN. WHERE THE CLOUD BANK PERSISTED TEMPERATURES WERE COOLER DUE TO THE MINIMAL SOLAR INSOLATION. A 100KT JET CURRENTLY MOVING AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF THE AFOREMENTIONED PARENT LOW WILL DIVE SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST INCREASING WINDS ACROSS THE AREA...ESPECIALLY FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS...PASSES...AND DESERT AREAS THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL ARRIVE THURSDAY AFTERNOON...GUSTS AROUND 60 MPH POSSIBLE...THEREFORE WE HAVE ISSUED A WIND ADVISORY FOR THOSE AREAS THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING. WINDS WILL ALSO BE BREEZY FOR THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY WITH GUSTS AROUND 20-25 MPH POSSIBLE BEGINNING THURSDAY MORNING. WINDS LOOK TO BE THE MAIN IMPACT WITH THIS SYSTEM AS PRECIPITATION WILL BE ALMOST NON-EXISTENT EXCEPT FOR SOME LIGHT SHOWERS OVER THE YOSEMITE AREA AND HIGHEST ELEVATIONS OF THE SIERRA. SOME WRAP AROUND CLOUDS WILL BE LIKELY THROUGH SATURDAY AS THE TROUGH MOVES INTO THE FOUR CORNERS REGION. HERE IS WHERE A LITTLE UNCERTAINTY IN TIMING AND MOVEMENT OF THE TROUGH COMES IN AS RIDGING DEVELOPS OVER THE WEST COAST AND ANOTHER TROUGH SITTING OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA. THIS WILL CREATE AN OMEGA BLOCK PATTERN WHICH SHOULD SLOW THE PROGRESS OF THE FOUR CORNER LOW. IT LOOKS AS IF THE LOW WILL BECOME STATIONARY WITH PERHAPS SOME RETROGRADING POSSIBLE DUE TO THE BLOCKY PATTERN. EVENTUALLY THE RIDGING WILL MOVE OVER THE CALIFORNIA AIRSPACE BRINGING AN INCREASE IN TEMPERATURES AND CLEARING. ZONAL FLOW LOOKS TO RETURN LATE TUESDAY AND WILL ALLOW SOME WEAK SYNOPTIC COOLING. LATER IN THE WEEK...THURSDAY TIME FRAME PENDING SYSTEM PROGRESSION AND BLOCK PERSISTENCE...GUIDANCE HINTS AT ANOTHER TROUGH MOVING THROUGH WHICH COULD AGAIN INCREASE THE CHANCES FOR SOME PRECIPITATION AND WINDS TO THE REGION. && .AVIATION... LOCAL MVFR CONDITIONS DUE TO LOW CLOUDS AND FOG ALONG THE MOUNTAINS ALONG THE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN PERIMETER OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. OTHERWISE VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. WINDY CONDITIONS DEVELOPING IN THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERT AREAS WITH GUSTS 40-50 KTS THROUGH 12Z FRIDAY && .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. CERTAINTY LEVELS INCLUDE LOW...MEDIUM...AND HIGH. PLEASE VISIT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HNX/CERTAINTY.PHP FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AN/OR TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK. && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 5 AM PDT FRIDAY CAZ095-098-099. && PUBLIC...ANDERSEN AVN/FW...JDB SYNOPSIS...WP WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 514 AM PDT WED APR 13 2016 CAZ095-098-099-131315- KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY- SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 514 AM PDT WED APR 13 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERT. ...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 11 PM THIS EVENING TO 5 AM PDT FRIDAY... .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERT FROM 11 PM TONIGHT THROUGH 5 AM PDT FRIDAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERT FROM 11 PM TONIGHT THROUGH 5 AM PDT FRIDAY. * STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR YOUR FAVORITE NEWS SOURCE...FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT OR UNUSUAL CONDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
7 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Report received from Cache Creek APRS station of 34-41 mph sustained winds with peak wind gust of 59 mph at 0012 PST.
Report received from Mojave ASOS of sustained winds of 38-43 mph between 0040 PST and 0120 PST with a peak wind gust of 69 mph at 0120 PST.
Report received from Mojave NTPS station of peak wind gust of 64 mph at 0104 PST.
Report received from Cache Creek APRS of sustained winds of 23-46 mph between 1448 PST and 1825 PST with a peak wind gust of 67 mph at 1526 PST.
Report received from North Edwards AFB ASOS of sustained winds of 46 mph with a peak wind gust of 58 mph at 2056 PST.
Report received from Red Rock Canyon APRS of sustained winds of 35-47 mph between 2100 PST and 2116 PST with a peak wind gust of 60 mph at 2100 PST.
Report received from Edwards AFB ASOS of sustained winds of 40 mph with a peak wind gust of 59 mph at 2140 PST.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in California, April 2016
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: 633268, 633291, 633284, 633300, 633304, 633306, 633307.