Temperatures began to recover our the area on May 28 following unseasonably cool days on May 26 and 27. The last three days of the month had fairly seasonable temperatures, but with abundant low level moisture from the recent rainfall, afternoon showers and thunderstorms were prevalent each day.
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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.
Temperatures began to recover our the area on May 28 following unseasonably cool days on May 26 and 27. The last three days of the month had fairly seasonable temperatures, but with abundant low level moisture from the recent rainfall, afternoon showers and thunderstorms were prevalent each day. The afternoon of May 31 was very active as several storms produced heavy rainfall in the mountains. The increased snow melt from rising temperatures along with the runoff from the afternoon showers and thunderstorms resulted in rapidly rising river levels throughout the San Joaquin Valley. Most noticeably along the Kings River as a result of increased releases at Pine Flat Dam. The increased runoff produced flooding at Lindy's Landing campground near Reedley, and the Kings River Golf and Country Club near Kingsburg beginning on May 29 and continued past the end of May.
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 May 28, 1:19 PM PST, 11 hours 41 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service San Joaquin Valley - Hanford CA 219 PM PDT Tue May 28 2019 .SYNOPSIS... Temperatures will warm to seasonable levels by the middle of next week with a daily chance of showers over the mountains. && .DISCUSSION... It felt more like February or March this morning than late May as low clouds blanketed the San Joaquin Valley. A weak disturbance moving through central California is helping to clear some of these clouds out of the Valley for partly cloudy skies this afternoon. The ridge of high pressure over the Pacific will try to move inland this week, but the broad trough in the Great Basin and into the central Plains does not want to give way. Thus, an unsettled weather pattern will continue over central California for the remainder of the week with clouds from time to time in the Valley and a threat of showers and thunderstorms over the mountains. Another weak low pressure system will drop south into the area Friday and Saturday and gradually move south Sunday. This system does not have a lot of moisture with it, so the threat of showers and thunderstorms will remain over the mountains through the weekend. Temperatures are running up several degrees today compared to this time yesterday. Models are steadily warming the lower atmosphere through the end of the week which will allow max temperatures to reach seasonal averages by Thursday and Friday. A another degree of two of warming will occur over the weekend, despite the weak upper low moving through. By early next week, as the upper low moves south, we will see more influence from the ridge of high pressure, and temperatures will likely warm several more degrees, putting the San Joaquin Valley into the lower to mid 90s for the beginning of June. The normal high temperatures in the San Joaquin Valley for this time are near 90 degrees. && .AVIATION... Local MVFR ceilings can be expected along the west slopes of the Sierra and the north facing slopes of the Tehachapi mountains until 18z Wednesday. Additionally, scattered thunderstorms are possible over the mountains Wednesday afternoon into Wednesday evening. VFR conditions will otherwise prevail over the central California 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.html for additional information an/or to provide feedback. && .HNX Watches/Warnings/Advisories... NONE. && public...Bean avn/fw...Durfee synopsis...Bean weather.gov/hanford
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Fresno and Tulare County Emergency Managers reported flooding along the Kings River downstream from Pine Flat Dam as a result of increased releases prompted by increased runoff from snow melt and recent rainfall.
Fresno and Tulare County Emergency Managers reported flooding along the Kings River downstream from Pine Flat Dam as a result of increased releases prompted by increased runoff from snow melt and recent rainfall.
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, May 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: 816557, 816560.