High Wind, Tulare Cty Mtns
- When
- February 20, 6:10 AM PST
- Where
- Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- RAWS
The Bear Peak RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 60 mph.
Heavy Snow and High Wind in California, February 20 to 21, 2019
A low pressure system dropped southward through the Great Basin on February 20. This system resulted in a brief periods of strong winds over the crest of the Southern Sierra Nevada and below the passes in Kern County.
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 low pressure system dropped southward through the Great Basin on February 20. This system resulted in a brief periods of strong winds over the crest of the Southern Sierra Nevada and below the passes in Kern County. Several locations in Kern County measured peak winds gusts above 40 mph while a few low impact indicator sites reported gusts exceeding 60 mph. This was followed by a very cold system which pushed southward through central California on February 21. While liquid precipitation with this system was not very significant, it did produce snow at elevations as low as 1000 feet and several locations in the southern Sierra Foothills and Kern County Mountains picked up between 2 and 6 inches of new snowfall between the afternoon of February 20 and the afternoon of February 21. This system moved east of the area during the evening of February 21 with a cold airmass being left behind in it's wake.
Event by event
3 high wind, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, Kern Cty Mtns
- When
- February 20, 8:14 AM PST
- Where
- Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
- Measured
- 57 kt (66 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- RAWS
The Jawbone Canyon RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 66 mph.
High Wind, Kern Cty Mtns
- When
- February 20, 9:27 AM PST
- Where
- Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
- Measured
- 58 kt (67 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- RAWS
The Bird Springs Pass RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 67 mph.
Heavy Snow, Kern Cty Mtns
- When
- February 20, 1:00 PM PST to February 21, 1:00 PM PST
- Where
- Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
- Reported by
- Public
The Alta Sierra Ski resort picked up an estimated 12 inches of new snow.
What these are
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Kentucky, February 20 to 28, 2019
- Flooding in Arkansas, February 20 to 28, 2019
- Debris Flow in Tennessee, February 20 to 24, 2019
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in California, February 20 to 22, 2019
- Debris Flow and Strong Wind in Georgia, February 20, 2019
- High Wind in Virginia, February 20, 2019
- Flooding and Heavy Rain in West Virginia, February 20 to 23, 2019
- Flooding in Kentucky, February 20, 2019
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Kentucky, February 20 to 24, 2019
- Winter Storm in Minnesota, February 20, 2019
- Flooding and Heavy Rain in Virginia, February 20 to 27, 2019
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Virginia, February 20, 2019
More
Every storm in California in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2019
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 798149, 798151, 798152, 798156.