A strong pressure gradient developed behind an upper low pressure system as it was moving slowly eastward out of the Great Basin and produced a period a gusty wind across the mountains of Kern County between the afternoon of November 2 and the morning of November 3. Several stations measured gusts between 45 and 55 mph while a few low impact indicator sites had gusts of 60 mph or higher.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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.
A strong pressure gradient developed behind an upper low pressure system as it was moving slowly eastward out of the Great Basin and produced a period a gusty wind across the mountains of Kern County between the afternoon of November 2 and the morning of November 3. Several stations measured gusts between 45 and 55 mph while a few low impact indicator sites had gusts of 60 mph or higher.
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 Nov 2, 1:21 PM PST, 11 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Hanford CA 221 PM PDT Wed Nov 2 2022 .SYNOPSIS... A trough of low pressure will continue to produce scattered showers across the San Joaquin Valley and Sierra Nevada foothills through tonight. A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect for the Sierra Nevada through 11 PM. Strong, gusty winds will continue in the Mojave Desert Slopes through 5 AM Thursday. An inch or less of snow is possible along I-5 over Tejon Pass and along Highway 58 over Tehachapi Pass late tonight. && .DISCUSSION... Upper trough over the west coast today from the Pacific Northwest to southern California. After a quiet morning, radar is beginning to show some showers moving into Merced and Mariposa Counties. It appears to be right on track as the hi-resolution models increase this activity through the afternoon. Colder air aloft will create a slight chance for thunderstorms north of Fresno County later this afternoon and early evening. The main threats will be small hail, brief heavy rainfall, and dangerous lightning. A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect for the Sierra Nevada from Yosemite NP to Sequoia NP until 11 PM tonight. The snow level is around 5000 feet early this afternoon and will fall to around 4000 feet this evening. Additional snow accumulations up to 10 inches are possible above 6000 feet with 1 to 3 inches possible down to 4000 feet. Precipitation is forecast to continue overnight across the Kern County mountains where the snow level is expected to drop to around 3500 feet. The bulk of the precipitation is forecast to occur before the snow level falls to the major highway pass levels. The latest NBM probabilistic guidance gives Tehachapi a 75% chance of at least a trace of snow and a 31% chance of at least 1 inch of snow. Fort Tejon has a 50% chance of at least a trace of snow, but only a 9% chance of at least 1 inch of snow. So while there is not a high likelihood of much accumulation, it does not take very much to cause travel problems through the Kern County mountain passes. Anyone planning travel through the Grapevine or the Tehachapi pass overnight through Thursday morning should be prepared for slick, icy roads and the possibility of travel delays. You can check on road conditions via the CALTRANS website or calling 800-427-ROAD. Strong wind gusts will continue across the Mojave Desert slopes tonight where a Wind Advisory remains in effect until 5 AM Thursday. The trough will shift east over the Great Basin on Thursday with an unseasonably cold air mass in place over central California. High temperatures across the San Joaquin Valley on Thursday are forecast to be mainly in the upper 50s, around 15 degrees below climatological averages. There is a chance for some record low maximum temperatures on Thursday. Bakersfield has a forecast high of 54 degrees on Thursday and the record low max is 58 degrees. Fresno has a forecast high of 57 degrees and the record low max is 56 degrees. Low temperatures across the SJ Valley on Thursday night are forecast to drop into the middle to upper 30s, leading to frosty conditions for parts of the valley on Friday morning. Dry conditions and a warming trend will occur Friday and Saturday. A progressive pattern is expected to continue and model ensembles are showing rather good agreement in more wet weather arriving late Saturday night through Sunday from Fresno County northward. A stronger and wetter system may arrive early next week for more significant precipitation across the entire district from Monday through Wednesday. && .AVIATION... MVFR or lower conditions are likely throughout Central California this afternoon and tonight in and near showers. Mountain obscuring IFR conditions are likely across the Sierra Nevada and Tehachapis. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES... On Wednesday November 2 2022...Fireplace/Wood Stove Burning Status is: No Burning Unless Registered in Fresno...Kern and Kings Counties. Burning Discouraged in Madera...Merced and Tulare Counties...and Kern (Greater Frazier Park Area) and Sequoia National Park and Forest. && .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 5 AM PDT Thursday for CAZ338. Winter Storm Warning until 11 PM PDT this evening for CAZ323- 326>328-330. && Public/Aviation/Fire Weather...DCH PIO/DSS........................Bollenbacher weather.gov/hanford
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
214 PM PDT WED NOV 2 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0800 AM SNOW 8 SSE YOSEMITE VALLEY 37.64N 119.55W
11/02/2022 M5.0 INCH MARIPOSA CA MESONET
5 INCHES OF SNOW MEASURED AT OSTRANDER LAKE
SNOTEL.
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
215 PM PDT WED NOV 2 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0800 AM SNOW 6 N EL PORTAL 37.77N 119.78W
11/02/2022 M5.0 INCH TUOLUMNE CA MESONET
5 INCHES OF SNOWFALL MEASURED AT GIN FLAT
SNOTEL IN 24 HOURS.
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
218 PM PDT WED NOV 2 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0200 PM SNOW 6 ENE TUOLUMNE MEADOWS 37.91N 119.26W
11/02/2022 M6.0 INCH TUOLUMNE CA OTHER FEDERAL
SPOTTER REPORT OF 6 INCHES OF SNOWFALL OVER
TIOGA PASS IN 24 HOURS.
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
225 PM PDT WED NOV 2 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0800 AM SNOW 10 W DEVILS POSTPILE 37.66N 119.27W
11/02/2022 M6.0 INCH MADERA CA MESONET
6 INCHES OF SNOW MEASURED AT DEVILS POSTPILE
SNOWTEL IN 24 HOURS.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Blue Max RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 60 mph.
The Bird Springs Pass RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 74 mph.
The Jawbone Canyon RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 60 mph.
The Southern California Edison Station at Little Oak Canyon measured a peak wind gust of 58 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, November 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: 1055985, 1055986, 1055987, 1055988.