Central California remained abnormally dry in August 2022. Scattered showers and thunderstorms did impact the area between the 1st and the 5th with some flooding being reported on the 1st and the 4th.
Every event with a place to put it; 40 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
Central California remained abnormally dry in August 2022. Scattered showers and thunderstorms did impact the area between the 1st and the 5th with some flooding being reported on the 1st and the 4th. Otherwise dry weather prevailed across the area. By the end of the month, nearly all of our area remained in an extreme or exceptional drought as most of our area has received less than a third of normal precipitation since July 1, 2020.
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 Jul 31, 1:22 PM PST, 10 hours 38 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Hanford CA 222 PM PDT Sun Jul 31 2022 .UPDATE...Updated air quality issues section. && .SYNOPSIS...Monsoonal moisture will continue to push into the area resulting in increased shower and thunderstorm chances through Monday. Most activity will occur over the mountains and desert but storms could move into the south and east portions of the San Joaquin Valley this afternoon and evening. Chances continue over the Sierra Nevada Tuesday through the end of the week. Otherwise, temperatures will generally remain near to slightly above climatological averages. && .DISCUSSION...Upper high pressure centered over the Great Basin is continuing to provide our area with an offshore easterly flow aloft which is pushing mid/upper level moisture into our area resulting in showers and thunderstorm development. Most of the thunderstorms today have remained just to the east of our CWFA, but instability and CAPE are favorable for thunderstorm development this afternoon and evening over the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada as well as across the Kern County Deserts. The easterly flow aloft could easily push some of these thunderstorms into the Kern County Mountains and across the Sierra foothills and eastern San Joaquin Valley. Blended QPF guidance is showing the most favorable area for thunderstorms with moderate to heavy rain today is over the Sierra Nevada in Tulare and Fresno Counties, and a Flash Flood Watch remains in effect for these areas until 1100 pm PDT this evening as a result. As the upper high center continues to shift toward the four corners area, the flow aloft will turn southeast which will pull up a surge of mid/upper tropcial moisture currently over Sonora which will push into central CA tonight and provide much of our area with continued chances of showers and thunderstorms through Monday evening. Temperatures are currently running close to yday at this time. With increased cloud cover today and more so on Monday, afternoon maximums should trend slightly lower each day as blended guidance suggests. By Tuesday the flow aloft becomes more southwesterly which will bring slightly drier air into our area and keep shower and thunderstorm coverage in our area confined to the Sierra Nevada. The medium range ensemble mens show the upper high re-amplifying later next week which will result in the upper flow turning back to the southeast over our area Wednesday and Thursday which will allow for another surge in mid/level moisture pushing into our area and an increased potential for showers and thunderstorms across the Kern County Mountains and Deserts as a well as the Sierra foothills and eastern San Joaquin Valley. Blended guidance suggests offshore flow will continue over our area through next weekend which will continue chances of precipitation for much of our area, most noticably the higher elevations. Temperatures will remain slightly above seasonal normals through next weekend as little chance in airmass is anticipated. && .AVIATION...VFR conditions will prevail across the San Joaquin Valley and Kern County Deserts for the next 24 hours. Areas of mountain obscuring IFR in and near thunderstorms across the Sierra Nevada, adjacent foothills, and Kern County mountains possible over 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... Flash Flood Watch until 11 PM PDT this evening for CAZ327>331. && public/aviation/fire wx...DAS pio/idss...BSO weather.gov/hanford
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
40 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
The West Side Mountains north of Highway 198 were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Los Banos and Dos Palos areas were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Merced, Madera and Mendota areas were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Planada, Legrand and Snelling areas were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Coalinga and Avenal areas were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The West Side of Fresno and Kings Counties were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Caruthers, San Joaquin and Selma areas were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Fresno and Clovis areas were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The West Side Mountains south of Highway 198 were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Buttonwillow and Lost Hills areas were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Delano, Wasco and Shafter areas were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Hanford, Corcoran and Lemoore areas were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Visalia, Porterville and Reedley areas were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Buena Vista area was classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Bakersfield area was classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Southeast San Joaquin Valley was classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The South End of the San Joaquin Valley was classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Mariposa and Madera County Foothills were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Mariposa and Madera County Lower Sierra were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Fresno and Tulare County Foothills were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Fresno and Tulare County Lower Sierra were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The South End Sierra Foothills were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The South End of the Lower Sierra was classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
Yosemite National Park outside of the valley was classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Yosemite Valley was classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The San Joaquin River Canyon was classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Upper San Joaquin River area was classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Kaiser to Rodgers Ridge area was classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
Kings Canyon National Park was classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Grant Grove area was classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Sequoia National Park was classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The South End of the Upper Sierra was classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Kern River Valley was classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Piute and Walker Pass areas were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Tehachapi area was classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Grapevine area was classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Frazier Mountain Communities were classified as being in an exceptional drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Indian Wells Valley was classified as being in an extreme drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Mojave Desert Slopes were classified as being in an extreme drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
The Mojave Desert was classified as being in an extreme drought due to a long term precipitation deficit.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in California, August 2022
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: 1044044, 1044045, 1044046, 1044047, 1044048, 1044049, 1044050, 1044051, 1044052, 1044053, 1044054, 1044055, 1044056, 1044057, 1044058, 1044059, 1044060, 1044061, 1044062, 1044063, 1044064, 1044065, 1044066, 1044067, 1044068, 1044069, 1044070, 1044071, 1044072, 1044073, 1044074, 1044075, 1044076, 1044077, 1044078, 1044079, 1044080, 1044081, 1044082, 1044083.