California, 2019

Flood in California, January 31, 2019

January 31, 2019 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A low pressure system dropped southward off the central California coast during the morning of January 31 then moved inland across southern California during the afternoon. Many stations in the western San Joaquin Valley and in the Kern County Mountains picked up between a quarter to a half inch of rainfall with a few locations picking up more.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 off the central California coast during the morning of January 31 then moved inland across southern California during the afternoon. Many stations in the western San Joaquin Valley and in the Kern County Mountains picked up between a quarter to a half inch of rainfall with a few locations picking up more. Street flooding was reported along State Route 166 near Maricopa in Kern County.

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 Jan 31, 4:16 AM PST, 6 hours 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 31, 4:16 AM PST, 6 hours 14 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Kern

When
January 31, 10:30 AM PST to 11:30 AM PST
Where
Kern County, 2.96 mi SSW of Lakeview to 3.2 mi ENE of Pentland
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
35.059, -119.137

California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding along State Route 166 from Old River Rd. the the eastern portion of Maricopa.

What these are

Flood
Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 794907.