A cold front associated with an eastward moving low pressure system over northern and central California brought moderate rainfall with periods of heavy rainfall to parts of the San Joaquin Valley.
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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.
A cold front associated with an eastward moving low pressure system over northern and central California brought moderate rainfall with periods of heavy rainfall to parts of the San Joaquin Valley.
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 Nov 20, 3:25 PM PST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service San Joaquin Valley - Hanford CA 325 PM PST Sun Nov 20 2016 ...Updated Aviation section... .SYNOPSIS... A storm system will impact the central California interior on Sunday, bringing the region a chance of rain and mountain snow. Another system may impact northern parts of the area by mid-week on Wednesday. && .DISCUSSION... 145 pm PST radar shows a line of precipitation extending along a cold front from Yosemite National Park south through San Luis Obispo. Up to a third of an inch of rain has already been observed in the parts of Merced County. The front will continue to push east through central California during the afternoon and evening hours on Sunday, bringing along with it the increased chance of precipitation as moisture advects from the south. HRRR and high- res WRF models advertise the rain approaching Fresno by mid- afternoon to early evening. As the front pushes through, we'll see snow levels fall to around 7,000 feet - possibly as low as 6,500 feet - near Yosemite National Park where a Winter Weather Advisory is in effect through 10 pm PST Sunday. Showers will linger over the area Monday morning and afternoon, especially for locations in the mountains, foothills and southern San Joaquin Valley. While the upper low continues to push into the North American continent, fog will become a concern in the San Joaquin Valley for the Tuesday morning commute as a ridge builds over the West Coast. Right now confidence is medium for fog development, but its intensity and coverage is still unknown. Tuesday's ridge will be short-lived as another system approaches the West Coast on Wednesday. This system still has some unknowns with the timing and trajectory. 12Z GFS and ECMWF suggest precipitation for the northern half of the CWA (Fresno County northward) with the best potential in Yosemite National Park. Thanksgiving Day looks to be mainly dry for holiday travelers across the central California interior, but another storm system will begin to aim on northern California late Thursday. Precipitation chances for our area will begin to increase by the Friday/Saturday time frame. Confidence for the timing and placement of this storm system is low. Model uncertainty continues to grow beyond Saturday, but it does appear the pattern will remain unsettled for the West Coast into the end of November. .AVIATION... In the southern Sierra...IFR conditions can be expected in Yosemite National Park with IFR conditions spreading southward to Kings Canyon National Park by 03z Monday. Mountain obscurations in heavier precipitation. In the Sierra foothills...MVFR conditions in Mariposa and Madera County with MVFR conditions spreading southward into Tulare County by 03z Monday. Areas of MVFR ceilings can be expected along the north facing slopes of the Tehachapi mountains between 06z and 18z Monday. In the San Joaquin Valley...areas of MVFR ceilings are possible north of Kern County through 18z Monday with local IFR ceilings in Merced County between 12z and 16z Monday. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES... None. && .CERTAINTY... The level of certainty for days 1 and 2 is medium. 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... Winter Weather Advisory until 10 PM PST this evening ABOVE 7000 FEET FOR THE CAZ096. && public...Rowe avn/fw...Durfee synopsis...Rowe weather.gov/hanford
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Moderate to heavy rain in Fresno on Highway 99 north of Highway 41 interchange may have contributed to a fatal car crash around 1900 PST. The stretch of highway 99 was closed until around midnight 11/21 due to the crash investigation.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Rain, Fresno | 2016-11-20 | Unknown | Indirect |
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, November 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: 668559.