High Wind in California, September 11 to 12, 2018

Name: High Wind in California, September 11 to 12, 2018
Start: 2018-09-11T20:26
End: 2018-09-12T15:32
Location: California

September 11 to 12, 2018 · NWS HNX · 4 events in 3 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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.

A dry upper level trough pushed through California on September 11 and 12. This system brought cooler temperatures to the area along with a period of gusty winds between the evening of September 11 through the evening of September 12. Peak gusts were generally between 20 and 30 mph in the San Joaquin Valley while several locations in the Kern County Mountains and Deserts reported gusts between 35 and 50 mph while a few low impact indicator sites reported gusts above 60 mph.

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 Sep 11, 1:45 PM PST, 6 hours 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 11, 1:45 PM PST, 6 hours 41 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service San Joaquin Valley - Hanford CA
245 PM PDT Tue Sep 11 2018

.SYNOPSIS...
A low pressure system will slowly move across the Pacific Northwest
this week bringing a cooling trend to the area through Thursday with
temepratures lowering to below seasonal normals. Dry weather will
persist throughout the region through next weekend.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Satellite imagery shows sunny skies prevailing across the central
California interior this afternoon with just a few mid/high clouds
passing over NorCal. An upper low remains centered around Vancouver
Island with an associated trough over the PacNW and dry westerly
flow aloft over CenCal. 24 hour temperature trends show little
changes and highs will be at or slightly below yesterday's. The
trough will dig south and southwest over the next couple of days
becoming positively tilted. More noticeable cooling will occur on
Wednesday with highs forecast to be a little below normal for the
middle of September. Further cooling Thursday will drop temps to
several degrees below normal. The models have backed off on upper
ridging across the Four Corners region this weekend and maintain
troughiness over the northwest with dry southwest flow aloft over
central CA. This means only subtle warming will occur Friday and
over the weekend with temps remaining a few degrees below average.
Confidence is not real good going into next week as there are some
model differences, but a rebound to near normal temperatures seems
reasonable.

The trough has increased the surface pressure gradient a little
with SFO-LAS up to 7.5 MB. The moderate onshore flow along with
increased winds aloft is producing some breezy to locally gusty
conditions, but remaining below advisory levels. Expecting these
conditions to continue for the rest of the week.

&&

.AVIATION...
VFR conditions can be expected throughout 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.

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...
NONE.
&&

public...DCH
avn/fw...MV
synopsis...DCH

weather.gov/hanford

Event by event

4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Indian Wells Vly

When: September 11, 8:26 PM PST
Where: Indian Wells Vly forecast zone
Measured: 58 kt (67 mph) measured gust
Reported by: RAWS

The Indian Wells Canyon RAWS reported a peak wind gust of 67 mph.

High Wind, Kern Cty Mtns

When: September 12, 2:27 AM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph) measured gust
Reported by: RAWS

The Bird Springs Pass RAWS reported a peak wind gust of 63 mph.

High Wind, Tulare Cty Mtns

When: September 12, 3:10 PM PST
Where: Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph) measured gust
Reported by: RAWS

The Bear Peak RAWS reported a peak wind gust of 61 mph.

High Wind, Kern Cty Mtns

When: September 12, 3:32 PM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) measured gust
Reported by: RAWS

The Blue Max RAWS reported a peak wind gust of 64 mph.

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2018 Every state in 2018 This day in weather history Warnings in California, September 2018

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: 776206, 776201, 776199, 776204.