A strong cold front pushed through central California during the evening of January 20 early morning of January 21 bringing a brief period of moderate to locally heavy precipitation along with strong wind gusts. Several reports of damaging winds were received during this time frame as winds downed several trees and power poles in the San Joaquin Valley where several stations measured gusts above…
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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 strong cold front pushed through central California during the evening of January 20 early morning of January 21 bringing a brief period of moderate to locally heavy precipitation along with strong wind gusts. Several reports of damaging winds were received during this time frame as winds downed several trees and power poles in the San Joaquin Valley where several stations measured gusts above 35 mph. There were also several reports of wind gusts exceeding 45 mph in the Kern County Mountains and Deserts and some low impact indicator sites measured gusts between 75 and 90 mph. Rainfall amounts varied in the San Joaquin Valley as some locations in the east central valley picked up between a quarter and half an inch while most of the west side of the valley was rain shadowed and did not pick up much rain. Much of the Southern Sierra Nevada picked up between a half inch to an inch and a half of liquid precipitation while several locations above 7000 feet picked up between 5 and 10 inches of beneficial snowfall. The precipitation ended by the evening of January 21 as the frontal system moved out of the area.
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 Jan 20, 1:26 PM PST, 6 hours 34 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service San Joaquin Valley - Hanford CA 126 PM PST Sun Jan 20 2019 .SYNOPSIS...A fast and windy weather system will move through the area tonight and Monday. Light precipitation will come to an end by Monday afternoon with high pressure and dry weather for next week. && .DISCUSSION...Lots of active weather is about to get started over the forecast area as a vigorous, fast moving system approaches. Latest radar shows some light precipitation now over Yosemite Park and a few echoes showing up over Merced County as the front approaches. Visible satellite imagery shows lots of mountain wave clouds over the northwest part of the forecast area as the flow aloft is very fast. This system will bring wind, Sierra snow and potential transportation impacts to the Kern County Mountain passes. I'll break things down... Wind...models continue to show a high wind event over the Kern County Mountains and desert tonight into Monday as first the strong cold front will sweep into this area this evening with jet stream winds aloft coming into alignment with the topography tonight and Monday. Latest model data shows a 130 kt jet pushing through Monday morning and this will keep winds cranking. High resolution models including the HRRR show gusts to 65 knots over ridges with widespread 40-50 knot gusts in the lee of the Tehachapi and southern Sierra. Current high wind warning with gusts to 70 mph should suffice. Meanwhile in the San Joaquin Valley winds will pick up between 6-7 pm over Merced County based on high resolution data and as the front moves southeast increase through the evening hours. After midnight a big drop off in speeds will occur as the front heads to the south. Precipitation...will spread southeast and increase in coverage with the front. This system does not have tremendous moisture and is moving quite fast therefore amounts will not be that great. Latest forecast precipitation estimates indicate up to 12 inches of snow in the Yosemite region and lesser amounts to the south. What is significant with this storm is the amount of cold air advection into the region. This is especially noteworthy in Kern County as snow levels will plummet to less than 4000 feet overnight tonight. The amount of projected snow in this area is only an inch or two however along the 1-5 and Highway 58 corridors, snow will likely fall and any accumulation will cause transportation issues. A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued to address this specific concern. Light snow flurries and lowest elevation light rain will continue through early Monday evening in strong upslope flow into the Grapevine region. As for rain, generally light amounts are expected in the San Joaquin Valley in the 0.10-0.15" range. Just trace amounts to a hundredth or two are expected in the desert areas if that. All precipitation comes to an end Monday night as the low pressure system moves east. Winds will also subside in the Kern County Mountains and desert by Monday night. High pressure continues to be projected by models to set up over the West Coast Tuesday though all of next week thus dry weather will prevail. Under this synoptic pattern, strong inversion conditions will set up in the San Joaquin Valley for fog and stratus clouds. Remainder of the area will be clear however nights will be cold especially on Tuesday night over the desert. Should see lots of lower to mid 20s as a very dry airmass settles into place and winds are light. Some moderation will occur each successive night from Wednesday forward. && .AVIATION... IFR conditions and mountain obscurations can be expected in the Sierra through 18z Monday. IFR conditions will develop in the Kern county mountains by 03z Monday with areas of LIFR in precipitation through 00z Tuesday. Additionally, wind gusts of 35 knots or greater can be expected in the San Joaquin Valley and along the Sierra crest between 02z and 12z Monday and in the Kern county mountains and desert from 05z Monday through 00z Tuesday. VFR conditions will prevail elsewhere over 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 high. Certainty levels include low...medium...and high. Please visit www.weather.gov/hnx/certainty.html for additional information an/or to provide feedback. && .HNX Watches/Warnings/Advisories... Winter Weather Advisory until 10 AM PST Monday CAZ096. High Wind Warning from 9 PM this evening to 6 PM PST Monday CAZ095-098-099. Winter Weather Advisory from 4 AM to noon PST Monday CAZ095. Wind Advisory from 6 PM this evening to 2 AM PST Monday CAZ089>092. && public...Dudley avn/fw...Durfee synopsis...Dudley weather.gov/hanford
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
10 strong wind, 8 high wind, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained spotter in Ponderosa Basin reported 1.03 inches of rainfall in 12 hours which mainly fell in a short period overnight. The rain changed over to snow toward sunrise and a light dusting was on the ground.
California Highway Patrol reported a tree down on power and phone wires with several branches blocking a roadway in north Fresno.
California Highway Patrol reported a tree down blocking the road 4 miles SSW of Fowler.
California Highway Patrol reported a large tree down blocking the road and power lines downed 5 miles NE of Riverdale.
Several trees were blown over in residential neighborhoods in Visalia. Some of the fallen trees damaged houses and cars.
California Highway Patrol reported a large tree and power lines downed 2 miles ESE of Selma.
California Highway Patrol reported trees down blocking the road 10 miles SSW of Shaver Lake.
California Highway Patrol reported a downed power pole 2 miles NW of Dinuba.
The Blue Max RAWS reported a peak wind gust of 82 mph.
California Highway Patrol reported downed power lines blocking the intersection of State Route 190 and South Evans Road in Tipton.
California Highway Patrol reported large trees blocking the roadway 3 miles NE of Squaw Valley.
California Highway Patrol reported a downed tree blocking the road on S. West Ave. between South Ave. and Parlier Ave.
Cache Creek reported a peak wind gust of 59 mph.
The Walker Pass RAWS reported a peak wind gust of 69 mph.
Bear Valley reported a peak wind gust of 59 mph.
The Jawbone Canyon RAWS reported a peak wind gust of 75 mph.
Monolith reported a peak wind gust of 69 mph.
The Bear Peak RAWS reported a peak wind gust of 79 mph.
The Bird Springs Pass RAWS reported a peak wind gust of 87 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 2019
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: 793976, 793977, 793978, 793979, 796421, 793980, 793981, 793982, 793984, 793985, 793986, 793987, 793988, 793989, 793990, 793991, 793992, 793993, 793994.