An upper level low pressure system dropping southward through the Great Basin interacted with the dominant high pressure center over the region to produce a strong offshore gradient over the Sierra Nevada and the Kern County Mountains and Deserts between the late morning of January 21 and the afternoon of January 22 producing strong northeast wind gusts over these areas. Several stations…
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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.
An upper level low pressure system dropping southward through the Great Basin interacted with the dominant high pressure center over the region to produce a strong offshore gradient over the Sierra Nevada and the Kern County Mountains and Deserts between the late morning of January 21 and the afternoon of January 22 producing strong northeast wind gusts over these areas. Several stations measured gusts between 40 and 55 mph while a few low impact indicator sites reported gusts exceeding 60 mph.
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 21, 1:58 PM PST, 16 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Hanford CA 158 PM PST Fri Jan 21 2022 .SYNOPSIS... Strong northeasterly winds will continue into the Sierra Nevada, as well as the Kern County mountains and desert through Saturday. Otherwise, dry weather will continue along with chances of morning Tule fog in the valley. && .DISCUSSION... Areas of persistent stratus remain over the east and southern portions of the valley after another morning of dense fog. Northeast winds are continuing to ramp up in the San Joaquin river drainage and Yosemite NP. So far, the strongest wind gusts have been 55 mph near Wishon Reservoir, 54 mph along Whiskey Ridge, and 40 to 50 mph in the North Fork/Auberry area. There was also an unofficial wind gust of 80 mph in the Cascadel Heights area this morning. Strong north to northeasterly winds have also ramped up in Kern County, mostly in the Indian Wells Valley and Canyon. We're still on track with not many changes to the overnight forecast package. Strong northeasterly winds will continue throughout the Sierra tonight into tomorrow afternoon where a High Wind Warning is in effect until Noon. Strong winds will also spread to the rest of the Kern County desert and mountains by later tonight. A Wind Advisory will remain in effect for the Sierra Nevada south of Fresno County into most of Kern County through Noon Saturday. With the upper level low aloft and plenty of mixing, we're currently not expecting any widespread dense fog in the morning. The best chances of patchy dense fog should remain in the southern half of the valley. Heading into the long-range (Sun 23rd - Fri 28th) there is good agreement between the ensembles with the evolution of the synoptic pattern through mid-week. The upper-level low giving us the strong winds will sink south into SoCal by Sunday then eject into AZ by late Monday. Meanwhile, a ridge of high pressure will strengthen over the eastern Pacific. By the end of next week, there is lower agreement between the ensembles into the position of the aforementioned ridge. Either way, temperatures during this period will be between 5 to 10 degrees above average across the district with continued dry weather. With this synoptic setup, morning Tule fog may become an issue in the valley. && .AVIATION... Widespread MVFR visibilities in haze/mist across the San Joaquin Valley with local areas IFR/LIFR conditions developing in fog between 12Z to 18Z Sat. Strong northeast winds gusting over 50 knots will continue across the Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountains, and Kern County desert through at least 20Z Sat. Otherwise, VFR conditions will prevail across the Central CA interior during the next 24 hours. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES... On Friday January 21 2022... Fireplace/Wood Stove Burning Status is: No Burning Unless Registered in Fresno... Kern... Kings... Madera and Tulare Counties. Further information is available at Valleyair.org && .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... Wind Advisory until noon PST Saturday for CAZ318-324-325-327>334- 337>339. High Wind Warning until noon PST Saturday for CAZ323-326. && public...CMC aviation....CMC weather.gov/hanford
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
1007 AM PST FRI JAN 21 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0817 AM DENSE FOG 3 SSW CLOVIS 36.78N 119.72W
01/21/2022 FRESNO CA ASOS
ASOS STATION KFAT FRESNO AIR TERMINAL
REPORTED A VISIBILITY OF 300 FEET.
&&
CMCPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
1018 AM PST FRI JAN 21 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0830 AM DENSE FOG 4 NE CARUTHERS 36.58N 119.79W
01/21/2022 FRESNO CA LAW ENFORCEMENT
*** 1 FATAL ***
MULTI-VEHICLE ACCIDENT RESULTING IN ONE
FATALITY ALONG HIGHWAY 41 NEAR FLORAL
AVENUE.
&&
BSPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
103 PM PST FRI JAN 21 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1004 AM NON-TSTM WND GST 2 E NORTH FORK 37.23N 119.47W
01/21/2022 M80 MPH MADERA CA MESONET
A NORTHEAST WIND GUST OF 80 MPH WAS MEASURED
BY THE CASCADEL HEIGHTS WEATHER STATION.
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
141 PM PST FRI JAN 21 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0129 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 2 E NORTH FORK 37.23N 119.47W
01/21/2022 M85 MPH MADERA CA MESONET
A NORTHEAST WIND GUST OF 85 MPH WAS MEASURED
BY THE CASCADEL HEIGHTS WEATHER STATION.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A private weather station 2E North Fork had an estimated peak wind gust of 93 mph.
The Laural Mountain RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 80 mph.
The Bird Springs Pass RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 61 mph.
The Blue Max RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 60 mph.
The Indian Wells Canyon RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 74 mph.
The Bear Peak RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 63 mph.
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, January 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: 993646, 993645, 993642, 993644, 993643, 993641.