A low pressure system dropping through the Great Basin resulted in in a strong pressure gradient during the evening of May 2 through the early morning of May 3. This resulted in a period of gusty winds across the mountains and deserts of Kern County.
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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.
A low pressure system dropping through the Great Basin resulted in in a strong pressure gradient during the evening of May 2 through the early morning of May 3. This resulted in a period of gusty winds across the mountains and deserts of Kern County. Several stations in these areas measured gusts exceeding 45 mph and 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 May 2, 12:00 PM PST, 6 hours 26 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Hanford CA 100 PM PDT Mon May 2 2022 .SYNOPSIS...Strong, gusty winds are expected in Indian Wells Valley and the Mojave Desert Slopes through Tuesday morning. Temperatures will remain above seasonal values through Tuesday then will rise to well above normal Wednesday and Thursday. By Thursday afternoon, maximum temperatures will be twelve to fourteen degrees above normal for this time of year. A cooling trend is expected to take place over the weekend. && .DISCUSSION...A low pressure system moving into the PAC NW at this time and is progged to drop southeast through the Great Basin this evening through Tuesday morning. While the moisture from this system is expected to remain well to the north of our area thus keeping our area precipitation free, it will result in strengthening p-grads which will provide for a period of windy conditions from late this afternoon through Tuesday morning along the Mojave Desert Slopes and across the Indian Wells Valley where wind could gust as high as 55 mph. A Wind Advisory remains in effect for these areas between 300 PM this afternoon and 900 AM Tuesday morning. In the wake of this system, a dry northwest flow will prevail over central CA on Tuesday while and upper ridge strengthens off the CA coast. The ridge is progged to build inland Tuesday night through Thursday so while most of our area will experience a slight cooling trend on Tuesday, a sharp rise in temperatures is expected on Wednesday with daytime highs expected to be well above climatological normals with further warming expected to take place on Thursday. Latest NBM probabilistic guidance is indicating that much of the San Joaquin Valley has a 50 to 70 percent chance of exceeding 90 Deg F on Wednesday and a 60 to 80 percent chance of exceeding 90 Deg F on Thursday. Medium range ensemble means are indicating the ridge breaks down by Thursday night giving way to another trough dropping southeast from the PAC NW into the Great Basin on Friday. This system is expected to bring much cooler temperatures to the area along with breezy to windy conditions to the West Side Hills and the mountains and desert areas on Kern County next weekend. Precipitation chances remain minimal as the deeper moisture remains to the north of our area. Some recovery is temperatures is expected by next Monday, but temperatures will remain a bit below normal. && .AVIATION...VFR conditions will prevail throughout the central CA interior for at least the next 24 hours. Surface wind gusts as high as 50 knots are expected in Indian Wells Valley and the Mojave Desert Slopes until 16z Tue. && .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... Wind Advisory from 3 PM this afternoon to 9 AM PDT Tuesday for CAZ337-338. && Public/Aviation/Fire Weather...DS PIO/IDSS...DCH weather.gov/hanford
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Indian Wells Canyon RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 70 mph.
The Bird Springs Pass RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 81 mph.
The Jawbone Canyon RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 62 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, May 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: 1012195, 1012194, 1012193.