Power Outage in Fresno, CA

Several reported trees and power lines were downed in Fresno during the early afternoon of March 21.

Several reported trees and power lines were downed in Fresno during the early afternoon of March 21.

California Highway Patrol reported a power pole broken in half and power lines on the roadway on S. Fowler Ave. north of E. Kamm Ave.

California Highway Patrol reported a downed tree and power lines which caught fire at S. Clovis Ave. north of E. Floral Ave.

California Highway Patrol reported a power pole and power lines downed on S. Chestnut Ave. at E. Dinuba Ave.

California Highway Patrol reported a tree and power lines downed on S. Fowler Ave. at E. Mountain View Ave.

California Highway Patrol reported a tree and power lines downed on S. Fowler Ave. at E. Mountain View Ave.

Public report of a power pole in flood waters leaning over at the intersection of E. Vino Ave. and S. Reed Ave.

Public report of debris on the south side of the roadway hanging across the power lines on westbound Dinuba Ave. east of Alta Ave.

Three power poles were slightly blown over and a trampolene was blown over east of the intersection of Gale Ave. and Howard Ave.

California Highway patrol reported tree branches took down power lines which blocked traffic lanes 5 miles northwest of Orange Cove.

California Highway Patrol reported power lines downed by thunderstorm winds on West Manning Ave. to the west of Raisin City.

California Highway Patrol reported power lines downed in the roadway on West Jerrold Ave. near West Bullard Ave near Firebaugh.

California Highway Patrol reported a downed power line and a downed tree on East St. at the intersection of Wood Ave.

Heavy rainfall was reported at the Fresno ASOS as 2 inches of rain fell between 415 pm PDT and 600 pm PDT from a nearly stationary thunderstorm. In addition, nearly 2200 customers in Fresno lost power during the thunderstorm.

Law enforcement reported power lines downed due to heavy rain at the intersection of Lac Jac Ave and Adams Ave near Reedley.

Local law enforcement reported street flooding along Olive Avenue just east of CA Highway 99. Several other reports of flooded city streets were received during this time frame as well. Media reports indicated some homes were reported flooded in the southwest section of the Fig Garden Village area. Some of this flooding was due to the combination of heavy rain, and poor drainage partially caused by power outages at an important pumping station.

Local law enforcement reported street flooding along Olive Avenue just east of CA Highway 99. Several other reports of flooded city streets were received during this time frame as well. Media reports indicated some homes were reported flooded in the southwest section of the Fig Garden Village area. Some of this flooding was due to the combination of heavy rain, and poor drainage partially caused by power outages at an important pumping station.

Downed powerlines caused power outages to 16,000 customers, according to local Broadcast media in Fresno.

Lightning activity in the Kings Canyon National Park led to a power outage in the park.

The strong storm that brought widespread precipitation and additional flooding to the area on January 14 was followed by another storm which moved through the area between the afternoon of January 15 and the afternoon of January 16. While precipitation amounts from this storm were significantly less across most of the area than with the previous two storms which impacted the area over the previous week, this system produced a period of damaging wind gusts in the San Joaquin Valley during the morning of January 16 as the cold front from this system pushed through the area. There were several reports of wind gusts exceeding 40 mph in the San Joaquin Valley and Sierra foothills and wind gusts exceeding 60 mph in the Tehachapi Mountains and the West Side Hills. The strong winds resulted in numerous power outages as power poles and power lines were toppled as well as road closures as the winds brought trees down across roads. Some more flooding occurred in the area as a result of additional rainfall on soil which had been heavily saturated by previous recent storms. The winds did taper off by the afternoon of January 16, but the precipitation was very slow to taper off as the storm didn't completely move out of the area until January 17.

A strong low pressure system moved through central California on January 9 and 10. This system picked up a deep moisture fetch of tropical origin while tracking rapidly eastward across the Pacific and produced widespread heavy precipitation across the area between the morning of January 9 and the evening of January 10 while the deep surge of moisture moved inland across central California. This storm produced widespread liquid precipitation totals of 3 to 6 inches in the Sierra Nevada. For much of this event, the snow level was around 7500 feet which resulted in heavy runoff of snow accumulations from recent colder storms. This runoff combined with rainfall of 2 to 4 inches in the Sierra foothills and 1 to 2.5 inches in the San Joaquin Valley to produce widespread flooding across the area with at least 150 separate incidents of flooding being reported to the Hanford NWS office. The flooding resulted in numerous roads being closed and several evacuations took place including the entire town of Planada in Merced County which was inundated with flood waters. In addition, Bear Creek overflowed it's banks and reached a new record peak flood of 26.2 feet at McKee Bridge east of Merced on January 10. Above the snow line, there were several reports of 2 to 4 feet of new snowfall above 7500 feet in the Sierra Nevada. This system also produced strong downslope winds on January 9 with several stations in the Tehachapi Mountains, West Side Hills and Sierra foothills measuring gusts exceeding 60 mph and resulting in several power outages across the area as power lines were blown down by the strong winds. Thunderstorms broke out across the much of the area on January 10 as colder air aloft moved over the area resulting in numerous issuances of Significant Weather Advisories along with a few warnings. The storm moved to the east of the area on January 11 with precipitation ending and winds diminishing. However, flooding continued across much of the area due to residual runoff from the heavy precipitation that fell over the previous two days. Several county Emergency Operations Centers were staffed by NWS personnel during this event do to the unusual severity with this storm as numerous warnings were issued for flooding, strong winds and heavy mountain snowfall.

A surge of moisture from Tropical Storm Celia which was off the west coast of Mexico near 17N moved over a hot and unstable airmass which was situated over central California. This resulted in scattered showers and thunderstorms over the area on June 22 which was also the first significant precipitation event for the area in two months. Due to the convective nature of the precipitation, rainfall amounts varied; but a few thunderstorms produced one to two tenths of an inch of rainfall in the San Joaquin Valley. Some stations in the Tehachapi Mountains and the south end of the upper Sierra picked up between a quarter and three quarters of an inch of rainfall. Some of the thunderstorms produced strong outflow winds and dry microbursts which resulted in several trees and power lines being downed.

A very potent storm system brought heavy precipitation, areas of flooding and damaging winds to the area as it moved through central California between the early morning of January 27 and the morning of January 29. As the storm approached the northern California coast on January 27, strong southeast winds picked up in the Fort Tejon area in the Tehachapi Mountains and along the West Side Hills. For much of the day on the 27th winds were gusting above 45 mph with several stations reporting peak gusts exceeding 60 mph. The winds caused several local power outages. There were also several winds gusts between 45 and 60 mph in the Sierra Nevada which had been impacted just 8 days before by a very strong offshore wind event. This resulted in even more trees being blown down. As the large upper low approached central California, it pulled up a surge of deep moisture which provided for a period of heavy precipitation across much of the area between the evening of January 27 and the morning of January 29. Several stations in the Sierra foothills picked up between 4 and 7 inches of rain while several stations in the San Joaquin Valley from Fresno County northward picked up between 2.5 and 4 inches of rainfall with this system. Further south in the valley several stations in Kings and Tulare Counties picked up between 1 and 2.5 inches of rain while much of the valley portion of Kern County picked up between a half inch and an inch of rain. There were several reports of roadway flooding in the San Joaquin Valley and mudslides and debris flows were reported in the West Side Hills near the Mineral Fire burn area. The storm also brought heavy snowfall to the Sierra Nevada where several stations above 7000 feet picked up between 4 and 6 feet of new snowfall. The snow also restricted travel across the Sierra Nevada and closed several roads. The storm moved through central California on January 28 and 29 and moved out of the area by the afternoon of January 29.

A strong low pressure system pushed into the Pacific Northwest during the morning of April 9 then dropped southeast in the Great Basin during the afternoon. While the most of the deep moisture from this system remained to the north of central California limiting precipitation across our area, a strong cold front associated with this system crossed the area during the afternoon of April 9 bringing a period a strong wind gusts to the San Joaquin Valley as well as to the Lake Isabella and Tehachapi areas. Several power outages resulted from downed power lines in the San Joaquin Valley where there were several winds gusts exceeding 40 mph. There were also several reports of winds gusts exceeding 60 mph in the Lake Isabella and Tehachapi areas, and some low impact indicator sites in these areas reported winds gusts exceeding 70 mph.

A very cold Pacific Storm system dropped out of the Gulf of Alaska on February 3 and slowly moved across the regions on February 4 and 5. This system brought moderate to heavy precipitation to portions of the San Joaquin Valley on February 4 and heavy snow to elevations as low as 2000 feet in the southern Sierra Nevada foothills on February 4 and 5. Between 4 and 6 feet of new snow fell above 5000 feet in the Southern Sierra Nevada. The heavy wet snow also resulted in numerous power outages affecting close to 20300 customers in the Mariposa and Yosemite Park areas. Additionally, all roads leading into Yosemite National Park (including State Routes 120, 140 and 41) were closed due to heavy snowfall. Several other roads had chain requirements above 2000 feet. Several school districts in the southern Sierra foothills closed for the day on February 5 due to roads being close to impassible as a result of heavy snowfall.

The persistent cut off upper low remained situated off the central California coast and continued to pull tropical moisture northward into central California. Some deep tropical moisture associated with a fairly strong upper level shortwave pushed into central California on September 11 and produced a severe thunderstorm outbreak during the afternoon and evening. Numerous reports of downburst winds exceeding 60 mph were reported and the impacts form these thunderstorms included downed power lines, damage to roofs; and large objects being knocked over and damaged. Rainfall amounts were generally a quarter of an inch or less with a few locations in the Southern Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi Mountains receiving between a quarter inch and a half inch of rain.

A strong cold front moved into central California on Thursday, December 11 and continued to impact the region through December 13. This system brought strong southerly winds across the Tehachapi mountains and into the San Joaquin Valley from the afternoon of the 11th to the morning of the 12th. During this time, winds gusted 70 to 90 mph across the mountains of Kern county with one gust of 105 mph reported at Grapevine Peak RAWS. In the San Joaquin Valley, winds gusted 40 to 60 mph, with the strongest winds occurring across Merced county south through western Fresno county and throughout Kern county. There was widespread minor wind damage across Kern county, including trees toppled, power poles down, and fences blown over. One report included approximately 2000 almond trees down northwest of Bakersfield, with a valued loss of $0.2M-0.5M. It was reported that 9,000 people lost power in the Bakersfield area during the storm. ||This storm system also brought heavy rain and snow beginning late on December 11 and continuing through December 13. Rainfall amounts were generally 1 to 3 inches across the San Joaquin Valley, the lower elevations of the Sierra Nevada, the Sierra Foothills, and the mountains of Kern county. Even the desert portion of Kern county received a tenth of an inch to as much as 1.5 inches of rain. The heavy rain resulted in widespread nuisance flooding, notably in Gustine, the Fresno area, and the Bakersfield area. A portion of Highway 99 (Taft Highway underpass) was closed for a period due to flooding during the morning of Friday, December 12. While a Flood Watch was issued for the Rim Fire burn scar, no impacts were noted. ||Snow was reported as low as 3600 feet where up to 2 inches of snow fell. Otherwise snow amounts ranged from about 8 inches to as much as 20 inches in the Sierra Nevada. NOHRSC analysis showed average snow water equivalent (SWE) in the Sierra increased from 0.4 to 1.1 and area covered by snow was up to 55.7% from 16.3%. A few inches of snow also fell across parts of Kern county. ||As the storm departed, there areas of dense fog developed in the San Joaquin Valley, becoming widespread on December 13 and 14. Another storm system moved into the region on Monday, December 15. Although much weaker than the previous storm, it produced gusty winds in the Kern county mountains and light snow in the Sierra Nevada.

A dry storm system moved through the central California interior on February 18th, bringing a push of cold air that lowered temperatures briefly to near normal. Behind the cold front, gusty winds developed over the mountains and deserts on the 19th. The winds began during the early morning hours, with a gust to 60 mph at Bear Peak in Tulare County, and a gust to 53 mph at Mojave, during the pre-dawn hours. Winds gusted over 45 mph in the eastern Kern County desert during the morning and early afternoon of the 19th, and gusts to 50 mph were recorded in the Piutes.||An upper-level ridge of high pressure returned to California on the 19th behind the departing low-pressure system. High temperatures warmed to above normal for the next several days before the next storm arrived during the afternoon of February 26th. This warming trend peaked with Bakersfield hitting 81 degrees on the 25th, and Fresno reaching 80 degrees. This was the first time either city had seen 80 degrees since November 10th, 2013.||The storm that reached the central California interior on February 26th was the first of two closely-spaced systems. Together, the two storms brought as much as 4 inches of rain to the Southern Sierra Nevada foothills, and over an inch of rain to the Kern County deserts. Fresno had a three-day storm total of 1.11 inch, bringing the total rainfall for February to 2.11 inch. This was 0.08 inch greater than the normal of 2.03 inches and was the first time since December 2012 that Fresno had above-normal rainfall for a month.||The south end of the San Joaquin Valley was rain-shadowed, with Bakersfield receiving only 0.28 inch of rain, almost all of which fell from the second storm on February 28th. The second storm was located off the central California coast, and was impressive on satellite pictures with a tightly-wound structure and a clear center much like the eye of a tropical system. The circulation around the storm produced a southerly wind over the Tehachapi Mountains which funneled through Tejon Pass and down the Grapevine into the south end of the San Joaquin Valley. Winds gusted as high as 89 mph at Grapevine Peak, and to 50 mph at Sunflower Valley on the west side of the Valley. At Buck Rock, in the Sierra Nevada in Tulare County, winds gusted to 66 mph.|Several thunderstorms were spawned by the storms, with the second system being the most potent. Numerous trees were toppled in both the San Joaquin Valley and the Sierra foothills by winds, in many cases pulling down power lines. One thunderstorm at Squaw Valley in the foothills produced a gust estimated at 65 mph, which toppled trees and damaged the roof of a garage. On the Valley floor, there were reports of houses and parked vehicles damaged by falling trees or large limbs. Near Fresno, a tree 3 feet in diameter was toppled.||Street flooding was reported at several locations, not only in the San Joaquin Valley but also in eastern Kern County where the Garlock Road flooded. (Garlock Road is prone to flooding from runoff from the El Paso Mountains.). In Dinuba, water covering the road was estimated at 8 to 12 inches deep. ||In the Southern Sierra Nevada, estimates of new snowfalls were as high as four feet. (These were Snotel observations; a post-storm snow survey had not been conducted at the time of this summary.)||February 2014 was much warmer than normal, and was Fresno���s warmest February on record. Bakersfield tied for its 6th warmest February on record.

High pressure ridging became the dominant weather feature during March 8th-10th and brought warm, dry conditions to the area; temperatures were at least several degrees above the seasonal average during much of this period.||The ridge somewhat weakened on March 11th through the 13th, as temperatures cooled down closer to seasonal averages. However, high pressure rebounded once again on March 14th and 15th, and temperatures returned to several degrees above average. This pattern basically remained dry and was similar to what occurred during much of the previous week in terms of temperatures.||On the 16th, an upper-level trough brought abundant moisture to the northern part of interior central California during the evening. By the 17th, the upper-level low was located along the central California coast and brought much convective activity to the area. Most of the rain fell during the morning hours on the 17th.||The ���Saint Patrick���s weekend��� storm will be remembered for not only record-smashing rain, but also for a tornado that hit western Fresno County. The rain began during the evening of March 16th, and by daybreak the next morning the California Highway Patrol was reporting flooding in the south end of the San Joaquin Valley. As the cold front move through the Fresno-Clovis area around 2:30 AM, a burst of strong winds���later estimated at 55-60 mph���toppled trees and caused some structural damage.||Over two feet of snow had fallen at Tuolumne Meadows by 8:45 AM, and mud and debris flows were reported in the Southern Sierra Nevada foothills. Less than 45 minutes later, winds gusted to 72 mph at Indian Wells Canyon near the south end of the Sierra Nevada.||By midday, both Bakersfield and Fresno had surpassed their rainfall records for March 17th. Hail fell on parts of Kerman, Visalia and Tulare. Winds gusted to 55 mph at Sunflower Valley in northwestern Kern County, and to 40 mph at Buttonwillow.||At 3:30 PM, a tornado was photographed on the ground near Mountain View Road and State Route 33, west southwest of the town of Tranquility in western Fresno County. This tornado touched down in an open field, and fortunately caused no injuries or damage. This was the 85th tornado since 1950 for the seven counties of the central California interior, and the first since February 27, 2010, when a tornado touched down in southwestern Kern County.||The CHP reported a rock slide on Highway 140 at Highway 49 in Mariposa County at 11:10 AM on the 17th. ||By the time the storm had ended on March 18th, nearly 2.78 inches of rain had fallen at the Madera Municipal Airport, while Fresno had 1.78 inch and Bakersfield had 0.96 inch of rain. In the higher elevations of the Southern Sierra Nevada, new snow totals were up to 43 inches.||Most of the cold air behind the upper-level low arrived by the 18th. More convection developed over the San Joaquin Valley and nearby foothills. Numerous reports of pea-sized hail with about one inch of ground cover were received throughout the valley and caused some damage to crops, especially those with blossoms. High temperatures in the central and southern San Joaquin Valley on March 18th were mostly in the 50s, well below the normals of md to upper 60s.||Eight inches of snow fell at Camp Nelson, with the heavy snow knocking down trees and causing power outages. In addition, snow levels fell below 2,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada foothills, especially in heavier showers. On the evening of the 18th, the storm system began to exit the region.||The 19th was a transitional day while an upper level ridge moved toward the central coast and kept interior central California underneath a cool north-northwest flow aloft.|By the 20th, high pressure began to strengthen and allowed temperatures to recover; they rose to a few degrees above seasonal averages by the 21st. This pattern continued for the next couple of days until another low pressure system arrived on the 24th.

Dry conditions prevailed over the area through March 15th, with gusts of 45-60 mph at times in the mountain and desert areas of Kern County. The weather pattern then changed sharply, transitioning to a 12-day period which saw periods of heavy precipitation and below normal temperatures.||From the evening of the 15th until the afternoon of the 16th, a storm system passed over the area, bringing precipitation mainly to the mountains and foothills, but light amounts did fall on the San Joaquin Valley floor. Most of the precipitation fell mainly as rain over the Southern Sierra Nevada in the northern part of WFO San Joaquin Valley-Hanford���s forecast/warning area. The highest amounts, which occurred in Yosemite National Park, ranged from about 1.5 to 3 inches; this was the most precipitation that had occurred in the region for the month thus far. However, this was just the harbinger of what was to come only 4 days later. ||While the rain was focused toward the north, winds were the main concern over the southern part of the region. The Kern County deserts saw gusts of 45-55 mph, and gusts as high as 66 mph were recorded in the Kern County mountains. The winds pushed clouds over the San Joaquin Valley into the Tehachapi Mountains, creating areas of dense fog. Visibilities as low as 100 feet were reported near Tehachapi.||The next storm arrived two days later. This was a two-part system, with the first part bringing between a tenth and a third of an inch of rain to the central and southern San Joaquin Valley. The first wave also brought a very cold airmass to the region. A foot of snow fell at Hetch Hetchy, and 10 inches of snow fell as far south as Lodgepole in Sequoia National Park. Snow even fell in the foothills, with 5 inches falling at Mid Pines at an elevation of 2400 feet. The main part of the storm arrived on the 20th, bringing record rain to both Bakersfield and Fresno, the latter city recording 1.82 inch of rain. In the Southern Sierra Nevada, there was no break in the snow, as upslope showers continued through the 19th until the second wave arrived.||Another foot of snow fell as far south as Fresno County on the 19th, and 4-5 inches in Tulare County. ||Strong winds developed ahead of the main storm, with gusts up to 84 mph in the hills above the Grapevine during the night of March 19th-20th, and gusts up to 60 mph at the lower elevations from Frazier Park to the base of the Grapevine.||The winds spread as far north as Bakersfield during the early morning of the 20th, and continued spreading north through the day. The heavy rains caused some road flooding on the San Joaquin Valley floor, as well as on Interstate 5 north of Fort Tejon before the mountain rain turned to snow. Up to 4 feet of snow fell at Frazier Park; the strong winds created drifts as high as 6 feet deep. Snow caused the closure of Interstate 5 over the Grapevine, and snow even fell on the Temblors and Diablo Range along the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. In Yosemite National Park and the surrounding area, winds toppled trees and downed power lines, and the combination|of heavy snow and rock slides closed roads into the Park. This was the first time since the floods of January, 1997, that Yosemite National Park was closed due to weather. Heavy snow and downed oak trees also plagued the El Portal and Wawona areas. Due to the power outages, Yosemite park officials evacuated some visitors to the park for a period of time due to the extensive impacts from this storm.||The morning of March 21st saw hail falling on the San Joaquin Valley floor, including near Rio Bravo and later over the Fresno-Clovis metro area. By the afternoon, hail was reported in Selma and Visalia, with ��-inch hail reported in the latter city. In the Tehachapi Mountains, up to a foot of new snow was reported.||The trough moved into the Great Basin, but a trailing short-wave brought light showers to the Kern County mountains and the far south end of the San Joaquin Valley during the early morning hours of March 22nd. Isolated showers were reported over parts of downtown Bakersfield, but stayed just south of Meadows Field.||Yet another storm reached the central California interior on March 23rd-24th. A line of thunderstorms developed on the 23rd over Merced County, then moved eastward into Madera and Mariposa Counties. Thunderstorms at the south end of the line propagated southward into Fresno County, ultimately reaching parts of Fresno and near Hanford. In fact, Fresno reported over a half inch of rain that day, with 0.38 inch falling in an hour at Fresno-Yosemite International Airport during the afternoon. Small hail, frequent lightning, and brief heavy rainfall were the main impacts of these storm cells. Funnel clouds were reported west of Madera, and near Clovis and Kerman; none touched down. The heavy rains caused flooding in the Southern Sierra Nevada foothills east of Fresno, as well as in downtown Fresno and southeast of Bakersfield. Convective cooling lowered the snow level down to 2200 feet in Mariposa and Madera Counties.||The last major storm of the month arrived on March 24th. This storm brought gusts to 45 mph to the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, and gusts to 65 mph in the Kern County mountains and deserts. Convective activity was limited to near Merced, with several reports of road flooding due to the already saturated ground. Thunderstorms and showers moved east into the foothills of Madera and Mariposa Counties, where the heavy rains triggered rock and mud slides. Mainly light showers occurred southward. The trough moved east of the region on the 25th, with residual light showers in its wake. Additional light snow fell in the Southern Sierra Nevada measuring around 5 inches or less. Local media reported that the roof of a vacant store at Shaver Lake collapsed on March 26th due to 6 feet of snow accumulation on the roof.

A deep low pressure trough tapped into quite a bit of moisture from the remnants of Super-Typhoon Melor, bringing as much as around 2 inches of rain to the central and southern San Joaquin Valley on the 13th-14th. Much higher amounts fell in the Southern Sierra Nevada. Dinkey Creek received the most precipitation from this storm, with a storm total was just over 13 inches (about 9 inches of this fell in 12 hours on the 13th). Wishon Dam recorded a storm total of around 10 inches by the 14th. At the onset of this storm during the morning of Oct 13th, quite a bit of snow fell over the crest of the Sierra Nevada. Once the precipitation began in earnest by the afternoon of the 13th, snow levels actually rose to over 10,000 feet, so most precipitation was falling as rain by the end of the event on the 14th. Rock and mud slides were reported on Highway 198 in Sequoia National Park. A Flash Flood Warning was issued for the Dinkey Creek area due to the very heavy rain. A hydrograph showed a sharp rise in the stream flow due to rainwater runoff, indicative of a flash flood event in the creek which normally does not reach such high levels.||In addition to the near-record (and in a few locations, record) rainfall, the storm brought high wind gusts that toppled trees, downed utility lines, and created areas of blowing dust with near-zero visibility. Wind gusts to 58 mph were recorded at both Castle Airport near Atwater (in Merced County) and Crane Flat in Yosemite National Park. Gusts to 60 mph developed at the south end of the San Joaquin Valley near the base of the Grapevine, and 77-mph gusts occurred over the Temblors in western Kern County. High winds in the Buttonwillow area caused a chain-reaction vehicle pileup on Interstate 5 around 515 pm on October 13th, where 3 people were killed in traffic collisions. The California Highway Patrol reported several areas of wind damage to trees and powerlines in the Merced area on the 13th. ||On the 15th another high pressure ridge began to build over the area with light surface winds. The lower levels of the atmosphere had abundant moisture as a result of the recent rain, with high dewpoints for at least the next three mornings. Patchy dense fog developed over the southwestern portions of the San Joaquin Valley on the morning of the 15th, with more widespread dense fog, with visibilities below a quarter of a mile, throughout much of the valley on the mornings of the 16th and 17th.

A strong weather system arrived on the 15th, which brought colder air to the region. Gusty winds���to around 50mph���continued over the mountains and deserts, and gusts even developed over parts of the San Joaquin Valley (where gusts to 37 mph were reported). The main impact of the trough was precipitation, as measurable snow fell as low as 3500 feet on the Grapevine, and thunderstorms developed over the west side of the San Joaquin Valley during the afternoon of the 15th. One thunderstorm, near Mendota, reached severe levels and produced ��-inch hail and damaging winds. Other thunderstorms generated hail that ranged from pea-size to ��-inch in diameter. These storms extended south along the Interstate 5 corridor to near Taft, and as far east as Visalia and Arvin (where the ��-inch hail fell and knocked out power to part of the town when a transformer insulator hub was shattered). A thunderstorm near Maricopa during the late afternoon approached severe criteria, prompting the second Severe Thunderstorm Warning of the day, but the storm weakened before becoming severe.||Up to 4 inches of snow fell on the Frazier Park area, with 4-6 inches falling above 6500 feet in the western Tehachapi Mountains. In the Southern Sierra Nevada, snow amounts ranged from 5 inches at Ponderosa to one-inch accumulations at Lodgepole and Tuolumne Meadows. Other snow reports included 1.5 inches at Bear Valley Springs and Hume Lake, and 2 inches at Grant Grove.||A cold, dry airmass moved into the central California interior with the trough. Several Valley sites reached freezing the morning of the 16th and the 17th, causing frost to form in a few areas.

An upper-level low developed off Point Conception by October 27, and slowly drifted northeast toward the central California coast. The low pulled a moist, tropical airmass, including remnants from former Tropical Storm Kiko, into the central California interior on the 29th. A dry air flow became trapped in the area around the storm, clearing skies over the San Joaquin Valley during the late morning, allowing for extensive heating of an already unstable airmass. Then, in the late afternoon, a weather disturbance moved over the southern half of the San Joaquin Valley. ||This combination of weather patterns triggered the worst severe thunderstorm outbreak over the central California interior in recent memory, with 15 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings, two Urban and Small Stream Flood Advisories, and a Flash Flood Warning issued between 4 PM and 8 PM. Another Severe Thunderstorm Warning had been issued earlier in the day, at 1:16 PM PDT, for the Sierra foothills in Madera and Mariposa counties. Hail up to an inch in diameter was reported, and flooding occurred in parts of the San Joaquin Valley, including sections of northwest Fresno and downtown Visalia.||Thunderstorm activity continued into the early morning hours of October 30, as a cold front moved through central California. A strong push of cold air into the region dropped the high temperature at Fresno from 80 on the 29th to 68 on the 30th. Bakersfield saw even stronger cooling, from 84 on October 29th to 63 the next day, a 21-degree cooling. ||Severe thunderstorms caused several reports of downed power lines and trees, large hail, and flash flooding throughout portions of the San Joaquin Valley.

The second storm of the month hit Central California on the 12th as a low pressure disturbance moved through the region. Nearly all of Fresno���s measurable rainfall occurred with this storm (0.14 inch ��� the month total was 0.15 inch), but Bakersfield only saw a trace of rain. (Meadows Field did not have any measurable rainfall in all of October 2007.) The storm on the 12th caused several car crashes and power outages during the evening in the Fresno area. Merced measured 0.63 inches of rain with this storm. A brief power outage occurred at 449 pm PDT and darkened about 3000 customers in the Fresno area.

Continuous rain, heavy at times, brought an abnormally high 2.84" of rain to the Fresno Air Terminal, 3.19" in Selma, and 2.25" at Coalinga in a little over 24 hours. A new rainfall record of 1.88" was set for the 2nd of January for Fresno. Flooding was observed in the city of Fresno as 15 ponding basins overflowed. Local flooding was also reported in smaller cities of Huron, Fowler, and Selma. Over 150 houses were damaged within the county. The strong wind downed trees and power lines leaving over 60,000 customers without power at some point.

The 2004-2005 cool season in Interior Central California was one of the better rain accumulation years recently. Rain periods with snow at the higher elevations started in mid-October and continued consistently through mid-May. This water year was in stark contrast to the averaged below normal rainfall from the past 6 years. Generally the Central and South San Joaquin Valley ended with 140% of rainfall normals while the higher elevation snowpack for the Southern Sierra Nevada finished at 185% of normal and the Kern River Basin on the Southern end of the S.Sierra Nevada at 154% of normal. From October through May every month had above normal rain/snow amounts with the exception of just below normal precipitation for November and April. October, December, and May had significantly large amounts of rain/snow. Furthermore, the mountain snowpack was marked by its staying power as cool weather persisted into June and reservoirs were able to hold more water for a longer period of time than ever seen before. Campgrounds at the higher elevations of the Southern Sierra Nevada in Yosemite National Park did not open for the summer of 2005 due to the large and late snowpack.

Another surge of monsoonal moisture from the remnants of Hurricane Ignacio brought thunderstorm activity to the deserts and higher terrain of Interior Central California. With east to southeast wind flow aloft, thunderstorms developed and moved over the Central and Southern San Joaquin Valley early on the morning of the 26th. Many lightning strikes again occurred. Infrequently occurring, the Central San Joaquin Valley began taking lightning strikes by 0200 PST and continuing heavily from Mariposa County south through Madera County and west to Merced County through 0430 PST. Additional lightning activity began in earnest on the west side of Fresno County at 0430 PST with a pocket of lightning activity in the Bakersfield Metropolitan area near dawn. Over 300 lightning strikes occurred in the 6-county area of Interior Central California from 0400 to 0500 PST alone. Merced County fire crews responded to over 14 lightning-caused fires on the Valley floor and resulted in loss of power to over 3500 customers in the Merced/Atwater area.

Two instances of broken tree limbs in Reedley in the Central San Joaquin Valley along the Sierra foothills resulted in power outages from damaged power lines. Over 2200 Reedley residents were without power on the evening of the 21st due to continued thunderstorm activity over the east Valley floor.

Convective activity formed and moved over the Central San Joaquin Valley in the wee hours of the morning of the 1st. Thundershowers caused damage to the drying raisins in the Fresno County area and lightning strikes caused power outages to 6,000 customers in the Madera Ranchos, Oakhurst, Mariposa, and Bear Valley areas. A pedestrian was injured when struck by lightning at Shaw Avenue and Golden State Blvd in northwest Fresno. Fresno received 0.32" of rain breaking the record for the date of 0.21" held for 79 years. Many other areas on the Valley floor were less than 0.10" although isolated heavier amounts were received at Madera Ranchos of 0.90" and 0.65" at Clovis. Southern Sierra foothill areas received just over 1/2 inch with 0.35" reported at Tehachapi in the Kern Mountains.

Pre-frontal wind caused some power line problems in the Southern San Joaquin Valley although warning criteria were not reached. Over 2000 customers lost power in the South Valley due to the wind. Following a vigorous trof passage early on the morning of the 17th rainfall accumulations on the Central and Southern San Joaquin Valley floor were between 1/2 to 1.5". Late afternoon convective activity through Central California generated what is classed as a low-topped supercell in rural, western Fresno County. The cell did trigger a tornado vortex signature alarm on the HNX 88D-Radar. Spotters confirmed a long-lasting funnel (3 vortexes) reaching halfway to the ground right after radar indicated mid-level rotation. Frequent cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning accompanied this cell as well as hail (1/2-inch diameter; piled 2-3 inches deep) with a path 3-to-4 miles wide from 5.0 miles southwest of Five Points to Lanare (13 miles). From the Fresno and Madera Ag Commissioners, 10,000+ acres of planted cotton were damaged along with some tomato fields due to hail damage. Further but difficult to assess damage was also done to area strawberry and cherry crops. At least 4 vehicle accidents could be attributed to the deep hail and heavy rain.