A second low pressure system pushed into the Pacific Northwest on June 16 following the system which had pushed through during the two previous days. This system brought another cold front which pushed through central California between the afternoon of June 16 and the morning of June 17.
Every event with a place to put it; 12 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 second low pressure system pushed into the Pacific Northwest on June 16 following the system which had pushed through during the two previous days. This system brought another cold front which pushed through central California between the afternoon of June 16 and the morning of June 17. Several stations in the Kern County Mountains and Deserts reported wind gusts exceeding 45 mph during this time frame with several stations along the Mojave Desert Slopes measuring gusts exceeding 65 mph. The strong winds continued through the early morning hours of June 18 before diminishing by late morning.
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 Jun 16, 1:10 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Hanford CA 210 PM PDT Sun Jun 16 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... 1. A Red Flag Warning has been issued for strong winds coupled with low relative humidity that will bring Elevated Fire Weather concerns to the Kern County mountains, West Hills, Kern Desert and the San Joaquin Valley through Tuesday Morning. 2. A cooling trend will bring temperatures closer to seasonal average for today. Monday temperatures will be around 3 to 5 degrees below normal. 3. Strong to damaging wind gusts will develop along the Mojave Desert Slopes each afternoon and overnight through Monday night. Afternoon and evening breezes will develop across the San Joaquin Valley with locally gusty conditions near the passes of the West Side Mountains through Monday. 4. Snowmelt from the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada, will continue to result in dangerously cold and fast flows along rivers and waterways. 5. Starting Tuesday a warming trend will begin with triple digits anticipated starting Friday lasting through next weekend. && .DISCUSSION... Sunny, warm and windy across Central California as the atmosphere continues to dry. These conditions were the results of a dry cold front cross the area late Friday. This cold front started the cooling trend in temperatures and breezy condition which will now be re-enforced by a second disturbance dropping from the Pacific Northwest. While temperatures will fall below normal values going into Monday, winds will become much stronger. High-Res Short-range ensembles wind analysis has a 30-60 percent chance of having wind speeds reach 30 mph across the region. As a result, Central California is now more susceptible to grassland and dry wood fires. Peak cooling and strong winds will occur on Monday, followed by a slow warming trend for much of the week that has a 30-50 percent chance of reaching heat-wave categories by next weekend. High-Res Short-Range Ensemble mean temperature and wind analysis show the continuation of cooler air surging into Central California. Ensemble Mean Max Temperature analysis for Monday has less then 15 percent Probability of Exceedance (PoE) of having the San Joaquin Valley temperatures break 90. This increases confidence that the cooling temperatures will bottom on Monday and go below normal. At the same time, the cooler air and upper level winds will support very strong winds tonight and Monday. While a 30 to 60 percent chance of widespread 35 mph gusts will exist, local gusts in Kern County reach percentages of 70 to 90 percent PoE. Over the same area, PoE of over 55 mph only drops to 50 percent. Therefore, a very windy night ahead. By Tuesday, the disturbance slowly pushes out as temperatures start a rebound and winds diminish. While the threat of elevated fire danger lowers, humidity across the region remains low as ensemble mean values only recover into the lower 30 percent RH. Yet, ensemble mean upper-air pattern does not suggest an significant warm-up until later in the week. Longer-range ensemble upper-air analysis maintains a cooler temperature solution for much of the period before changes gears next Friday. Yet, confidence the next Heat-Wave is low as Ensemble Cluster Analysis does not hint toward a strong ridge solution. Current PoE of reaching 105 degrees on Friday remains mostly below 10 percent. While PoE of reach 100 degree may rise to 20% to 40%, the pattern is not set-up for a good heat-wave. By the weekend, the pattern looks a bit more favorable for a ridge pattern as Ensemble Cluster Analysis shows a up-tick toward heat-wave category. Latest PoE shows a 30 to 50 percent chance of reaching 105 degrees. On Sunday, those percentages remain the same as medium confidence continue toward another heat-wave. && .AVIATION... VFR conditions will prevail across the Central CA interior for the next 24 hours. Local reductions of visibility near fires and along the Mojave Slopes in the Kern County Desert. && .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 and/or to provide feedback. && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning until 5 AM PDT Tuesday for CAZ338. Red Flag Warning until 8 AM PDT Tuesday for CAZ579-596-597. && Operational......Molina Support/IDSS.....SM weather.gov/hanford
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
12 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Southern California Edison Station at Little Oak Canyon measured a peak wind gust of 71 mph.
The Bird Springs Pass RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 63 mph.
The Blue Max RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 58 mph.
The Nomojw Mesonet station 2SSE Mojave measured a peak wind gust of 74 mph.
The Southern California Edison station at Rosamond 20W measured a peak wind gust of 66 mph.
The Southern California Edison Station at Cottonwood Canyon measured a peak wind gust of 68 mph.
Jawbone Station measured a peak wind gust of 66 mph.
The Southern California Edison station at Cache Creek measured a peak wind gust of 66 mph.
The Southern California Edison Station at Cottonwood Creek West measured a peak wind gust of 85 mph.
The Cache Creek CHP station measured a peak wind gust of 67 mph.
The Bear Peak RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 60 mph.
The Mojave Airport AWOS measured a peak wind gust of 69 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in California, June 2024
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: 1174491, 1174493, 1174494, 1174496, 1174497, 1174498, 1174500, 1174501, 1174503, 1174504, 1174927, 1174495.