High Wind, Tehachapi Area
- When
- December 13, 1:27 AM PST
- Where
- Tehachapi Area forecast zone
- Measured
- 63 kt (72 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- RAWS
The Bird Springs Pass RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 73 mph.
High Wind in California, December 13, 2020
A low pressure system moved through northern California during the morning of December 13 and pushed a cold front through the area between the afternoon of December 13 and the early morning of December 14. Precipitation accompanied the frontal passage with the snow level between 6000 and 6500 feet.
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 moved through northern California during the morning of December 13 and pushed a cold front through the area between the afternoon of December 13 and the early morning of December 14. Precipitation accompanied the frontal passage with the snow level between 6000 and 6500 feet. Much of the Sierra Nevada and adjacent foothills from Kings Canyon northward picked up between a half inch to an inch of liquid precipitation and the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada picked up between 5 and 9 inches of new snowfall. Much of the San Joaquin Valley from Fresno County northward picked up between a quarter and a half inch of rainfall while lesser amounts fell further south with most stations south of Fresno County picking up between a few hundredths and a quarter inch of liquid precipitation. Once again, the main impact from this system was post-frontal winds as several stations in the mountains and deserts of Kern County measured gusts above 45 mph during the early morning of December 14 while a few low impact indicator sites measured gusts above 60 mph. The winds diminished by late morning on December 14.
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 Dec 12, 2:25 PM PST, 11 hours 2 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 12, 2:25 PM PST, 11 hours 2 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Hanford CA 225 PM PST Sat Dec 12 2020 .SYNOPSIS... A cold front will move through the region today, bringing gusty winds through the wind-prone areas of Central California during the day. Another disturbance is likely to pass through northern California bring additional light rain and high elevation snow on Sunday. Dry conditions with mainly seasonal temperatures return early next week. && .DISCUSSION... Rain! Well, after a long dry stretch, we finally got some decent rain across the CENCAL interior. A very fast moving front brought enough energy to give us measureable rain last night and into this morning. Clouds are clearing out slowly this afternoon and into this evening except in the south valley, where upslope flow is providing enough lift for low clouds, fog and light showers. Snow levels are around 7000 feet right now. A few flurries are expected until around sunset across the Sierra. There will be a brief break before another front pushes through the region tomorrow evening. Clouds and precip will once again return to the CENCAL interior by tomorrow afternoon. We could see some patchy dense fog in the fog prone areas of the SJV late tonight and into Sunday morning, but there will probably be too much mixing and clouds to allow for good radiational conditions for widespread fog development. Confidence is not very high for fog development tonight. QPF amounts appear to be around winter weather advisory levels for Yosemite National Park in the Sierra with the upcoming system. We will be hoisting a Winter Weather Advisory for the Yosemite area for tomorrow afternoon and evening. Winds are expected to drop off this afternoon and tonight across Kern county. We could see winds picking back up again tomorrow evening with the frontal passage. NAMNEST wind gust data is indicating a marginal wind event for the Kern county mountains and desert. This system is also a fast moving one and we will see clearing out by Monday afternoon and evening with patchy fog possible in the SJV. Ridging will build in over the area with clearing skies and slightly warmer temperatures Wednesday through Thursday. Another cold front and associated moisture is currently forecast to move through the region and bring another round of precipitation during the day on Thursday and move out rather quickly by Thursday night. Weak ridging will once again dry things out across the region for Friday and Saturday. && .AVIATION... Areas of MVFR to local IFR visibilities due to ceilings/precipitation with mountain obscurations until 06Z Sunday. Otherwise, VFR conditions will prevail for the next 24 hours across the Central CA Interior. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES... On Saturday December 12 2020... Unhealthy for sensitive groups in Fresno... Kern... Kings... Madera and Tulare Counties. Fireplace/Wood Stove Burning Status is: No Burning Unless Registered in Kings... Merced and Tulare Counties. No Burning For All in Fresno... Kern and Madera Counties. Further information is available at Valleyair.org && .CERTAINTY... The level of certainty for days 1 and 2 is medium. 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... Wind Advisory until 4 PM PST this afternoon for CAZ195-196-198- 199. Winter Weather Advisory from 10 AM Sunday through 4 AM Monday for CAZ193. && public/aviation/fire weather....JDB IDSS/PIO.........................JA weather.gov/hanford
Event by event
4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, Tehachapi Area
- When
- December 13, 3:14 AM PST
- Where
- Tehachapi Area forecast zone
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- RAWS
The Jawbone Canyon RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 70 mph.
High Wind, Kern County Desert
- When
- December 13, 3:39 AM PST
- Where
- Kern County Desert forecast zone
- Measured
- 50 kt (58 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- Mesonet
The CHP station at Cache Creek measured a peak wind gust of 58 mph.
High Wind, Lake Isabella
- When
- December 13, 4:32 AM PST
- Where
- Lake Isabella forecast zone
- Measured
- 54 kt (62 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- RAWS
The Blue Max RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 62 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
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Louisiana, December 13, 2020
- Damaging Winds in Mississippi, December 13, 2020
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Arkansas, December 13 to 15, 2020
- Winter Storm in Oklahoma, December 13, 2020
- Heavy Snow in Oklahoma, December 13, 2020
- Winter Weather in Missouri, December 13, 2020
- Winter Weather in Michigan, December 13 to 15, 2020
- Winter Weather in Texas, December 13, 2020
- Coastal Flood in California, December 13 to 14, 2020
- Coastal Flood and Wildfire in California, December 13 to 18, 2020
- Heavy Snow and High Wind in California, December 13 to 14, 2020
- Winter Storm in Arkansas, December 13, 2020
More
Every storm in California in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 2020
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: 924514, 924515, 924517, 924516.