High Wind in California, March 1 to 2, 2020

Name: High Wind in California, March 1 to 2, 2020
Start: 2020-03-01T23:49
End: 2020-03-02T08:26
Location: California

March 1 to 2, 2020 · NWS HNX · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 cold upper low pressure system dropped southward off the California coast on March 1 bringing some mountain showers to the area. Several stations in the Sierra Nevada picked up between a tenth and a quarter of an inch of liquid precipitation while the adjacent foothills and Tehachapi Mountains picked up up to a tenth of an inch of liquid precipitation. The snow level lowered to near 3000 feet during the evening of March 1 and several stations in the mountains picked up between 1 and 3 inches of new snowfall. Pine Mountain Club measured four inches of snow and the roads in the area were briefly closed down. California Highway Patrol also paced traffic on Interstate 5 in the Grapevine and Tejon Pass areas due to black ice. Behind the trough axis after it pushed through during the evening, gusty northeast winds developed over the Sierra Nevada with several reports of gusts between 35 and 45 mph. One weather station 2 miles east of North Fork reported a peak gust of 83 mph. Gusty northerly winds also developed over the Kern County Deserts where there were also several reports of gusts between 35 and 45 mph, and a few low impact indicator sites measuring gusts above 60 mph. The winds remained gusty at times through the afternoon of March 2 then diminished during the evening.

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 Mar 1, 1:35 PM PST, 10 hours 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 1, 1:35 PM PST, 10 hours 14 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Hanford CA
135 PM PST Sun Mar 1 2020

.SYNOPSIS...A storm system will continue to bring showers and
higher elevation snowfall across the area, with snow levels
dropping to as low as 3000 feet by this evening. Periods of gusty
winds are expected this evening through Monday morning in the
Sierra. Otherwise, dry weather will prevail Monday through Friday
with warmer temperatures.

&&

.DISCUSSION...A cold upper low pressure system currently dropping
southward off the CA coast has brought much cooler temperatures
to our area along with increased clouds, showers and a few
thunderstorms. The most noticable change has been with
temperatures as much of our area are currently running 12 to 20
DEG F below yday at this time. Mesowest is indicating snow levels
are currently running between 4500 and 5000 feet and are expected
to lower to 3000 to 3500 feet this evening before the
precipitation tapers off overnight. The main area of focus for
the precipitation tonight in in the Kern County Mountains as
travel along Interstate 5 could be impacted from icy conditions.
A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect for the Fort Tejon and
Grapevine areas until 700 am PST Monday.

As the low continues to drop southward this evening, the trough
axis will swing through our area and strong northeast winds are
expected to develop behind the through axis over the Sierra
Nevada. A Wind Advisory is in effect for the higher elevations of
the Sierra Nevada from Yosemite Park southward to Tulare County
from 700 pm this evening through 10 am Monday where gusts up to 55
mph are possible. Meanwhile, with clearing skies and diminished
winds across the San Joaquin Valley, areas of frost are likely for
a few hours on Monday morning as many locations will have lows in
the mid 30s.

The trough is expected to exit our area Monday night with high
pressure building back into central CA by early Tuesday and
shifting inland on Wednesday. This will result in mainly clear
skies and a warming trend taking place across our area on Tuesday
and Wednesday with temperatures expected to be well above seasonal
normals again by Wednesday.

The medium range models are in fairly good agreement early on then
have timing differences by the end of next week. The GFS swings
and upper trough through our area on Friday night while the ECMWF
shifts the trough through on Saturday night. Our forecast follows
the NBM which is a good compromise between the GFS and ECMWF.
Thursday will be dry and continued unseasonably warm then a
cooling trend will begin on Friday as the trough approaches. Next
weekend looks to be unsettled with near normal temperatures and
chances of precipitation for nearly all of our area.

&&

.AVIATION...In the San Joaquin Valley, local MVFR conditions in
showers and thunderstorms thru 03Z Mon. In the Sierra foothills
and Tehachapi Mountains, Areas of MVFR and local mountain
obscuring IFR in showers thru 12Z Mon. In the Sierra Nevada,
widespread mountain obscuring IFR in low clouds and showers thru
12Z Mon with improvement to mainly VFR by 20Z Mon. In the Kern
County Deserts areas of MVFR in showers and thunderstorms thru 06Z
Mon. Otherwise, VFR conditions can be expected throughout the
central CA interior during the next 24 hours.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...None.

&&

.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...
Winter Weather Advisory until 4 PM PST this afternoon for CAZ192-
193.

Wind Advisory from 7 PM this evening to 10 AM PST Monday for
Caz192>194.

Winter Weather Advisory until 7 AM PST Monday for CAZ197.

&&

public...DS
aviation....DS

weather.gov/hanford

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 1, 9:00 PM PST, 2 hours 49 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
900 PM PST SUN MAR 1 2020

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0859 PM     SNOW             1 NNW PINE MOUNTAIN CLU 34.86N 119.17W
03/01/2020  M4.1 INCH        KERN               CA   PUBLIC

            4 1/8 INCHES OF SNOW MEASURED AT PINE
            MOUNTAIN CLUB. ELEVATION 6250 FEET.

&&

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Central Sierra Foothills

When: March 1, 11:49 PM PST
Where: Central Sierra Foothills forecast zone
Measured: 72 kt (83 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

A personal weather station at Cascadel Heights measured a peak wind gust of 83 mph.

High Wind, Indian Wells Valley

When: March 2, 6:26 AM PST
Where: Indian Wells Valley forecast zone
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph) measured gust
Reported by: RAWS

The Laural Mountain RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 63 mph.

High Wind, Indian Wells Valley

When: March 2, 8:26 AM PST
Where: Indian Wells Valley forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) measured gust
Reported by: RAWS

The Indian Wells Canyon RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 64 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

Every storm in California in 2020 Every state in 2020 This day in weather history Warnings in California, March 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: 870851, 870813, 870812.