• December
• January
• February
• Records Tied or Broken
• Runnin' the Numbers

December began with low clouds over the Tehachapi Mountains and pockets of dense fog across the San Joaquin Valley and in the mountain passes. Remnant clouds from a storm moving east from California lingered over the Kern County mountains and deserts. With high pressure over the Valley and light winds, patchy frost formed in the coldest fog-free areas. By the night of December 3^rd, a low pressure system was moving into California with rain starting in the San Joaquin Valley. This rain was short-lived, but the storm caused strong wind gusts in the south end of the San Joaquin Valley on the 4^th. The next day, an upper level low pressure system off the southern California coast brought more rain to the region, including a few moderate to heavy showers over the west side of the Valley that caused minor flooding. The storm also brought up to one foot of snow to the mountains, with Interstate 5 closed on the Grapevine in the Tehachapi Mountains for about three hours. On the heels of this storm came another cold system. But between the storms, areas of dense fog formed in the passes of the Kern County mountains with visibilities on Interstate 5 falling below 100 feet near the Frazier Park exit.

The December 7^th storm brought locally heavy rains to central California and a line of late-afternoon and evening thunderstorms that rumbled down the San Joaquin Valley. Snow fell on the mountains to the 4000 foot level and gusty winds developed in the mountains and the Kern County deserts. In the wake of this storm, the air over the region remained unstable with thunderstorms in the Valley and snow showers over the mountains.

In the clear cold air behind these storms, areas of dense fog formed across the central and southern San Joaquin Valley. Where the fog did not form, low temperatures dipped below freezing. The high pressure that cleared the skies also caused gusty west winds in the Kern County mountains and deserts, with gusts to 40 mph at Inyokern and in excess of 50 mph at Mojave. Night and morning Valley fog was a daily occurrence through December 14^th, when the next storm arrived. This was a fast-moving system and significant snow accumulations mostly were confined to the Southern Sierra Nevada north of Tulare County.

Another weak storm moved through central California on the 17^th and 18^th. Behind this storm, strong high pressure built in with a northeast flow aloft. This flow cleared and dried the air over the San Joaquin Valley with below-freezing temperatures in many locations nearly each morning through the 30^th. The wind pattern aloft also funneled gusty north winds into the Indian Wells Valley in northeastern Kern County, with gusts over 50 mph at Inyokern during the morning of the 22nd. This pattern was briefly interrupted by a weak storm that moved over California on the 20^th, but the cold nights quickly returned to the San Joaquin Valley. The month ended with high clouds moving into central California ahead of an approaching storm. These clouds helped break the string of cold nights with lows on the 31^st above freezing except at Delano, where the mercury bottomed out at 32^oF.

Spotter reports during December included:

7th	Sarah Corum reported a thunderstorm in Visalia
	Steve Johnson reported pea-size hail in Clovis
	Joanne Butts reported heavy rain in Sanger
8th	Major rainfall amounts included 1.72" of rain for 24hrs was reported by Ken Nobles in Oakhurst 1.11" by Tracy Rymer in Prather 1.45" by Julia Peron in North Fork 1.40" on the 7th, 0.80" on the 8th by Frank Deluca at Jose Basin 0.95" by Eleanor Heiskell in Glennville
	Gary Giusti reported a midday thunderstorm that moved through Kerman
	Virginia Burrows at Mount Mesa reported the snow level in the Kern County mountains down to 2680 feet
	Similar snow levels were reported by Mike Machado at Ahwahnee
	Frank Springer reported measurable snow on the roads in Tehachapi
9th	Eleanor Heiskell reported one inch of snow in Glennville

Nineteen ninety-eight dawned foggy in the San Joaquin Valley and partly sunny above the fog. Mid-level clouds moved in during the day and rain began in the Southern Sierra Nevada during New Year's evening. This was the first, and warmer, of a pair of storms that moved through central California during the first weekend of the year. The second storm, which arrived during the night of the 3^rd, dropped snow levels down to 4000 feet with a mix of rain and snow locally down to 2800 feet. As the storms moved east, cold dry air filled the San Joaquin Valley for a return of Valley fog. A weak storm hit the region on the night of the 5^th with light rain lingering into the next morning over the central San Joaquin Valley and snow on the Sierra Nevada. This storm was followed three days later by another weak storm. Yet another weak storm moved through central California during the early morning hours of January 10^th, with showers and an isolated thunderstorm near Bakersfield. The next day, a stronger storm moved into California with snow down to 5500 feet; this was the first of another one-two punch aimed at our region. The second punch brought heavy rain to the west side of the San Joaquin Valley with minor flooding from Mariposa to Mendota. After a brief respite, another storm pushed across the state for more rain on the 14^th and 15^th. The cumulative effect of these storms was to saturate the soil in the foothills and the San Joaquin Valley floor, resulting in minor flooding in the Sierra foothills and eastern Merced County. The most significant flooding was west of the city of Merced, where Bear Creek breeched its banks during the morning of the 16^th.

After a brief break in the storm pattern, punctuated by dense morning Valley fog on the 16^th, a storm moved in central California during the afternoon of January 18th. The storm weakened as it moved inland, but generated gusty winds over the mountains and deserts. The following week was marked by dry weather, which meant San Joaquin Valley residents awoke each morning to Tule fog. On the 26^th, a cold front moved into the region with most of the rain confined to the region north of Fresno. A fast moving storm moved through the area during the morning hours of January 29^th. Behind this storm, thunderstorms developed over the San Joaquin Valley with one storm over the city of Fresno reaching severe levels. This storm was part of a line of strong thunderstorms that moved through Fresno, Kings and Tulare Counties during the early afternoon hours. This storm was followed by a short respite, but January ended with a powerful storm approaching the California coast, a harbinger of the month ahead.

Spotter reports during January included

1st	Bill Krause reported rain mixed with snow at Wawona, setting the freezing level at 4000 feet
4th	Ann Dedmond reported rain mixed with sleet near Coarsegold at 1600 feet
5th	Bob Keller reported a storm total of a foot of snow at Fish Camp
12th	Bob Craig reported a thunderstorm with heavy rain in Merced
	Bob Gudgel reported a thunderstorm and ½" of rain in 20 minutes at Chowchilla
	Arnold Walters reported 0.60" of rain in 2 hours at Madera Rancho
15th	Elizabeth Specht reported streams and creeks near bankfull at Mariposa
16th	Miles Muzio reported 200 foot visibility on Highway 58 near Tehachapi
18th	Ann Dedmond recorded wind gusts to 42 mph at Coarsegold
	Ellen Arnold reported a thunderstorm 10 miles north of Springville. This was part of a line of thunderstorms also reported by Eleanor Heiskell at Glennville and Ron Dinsmoor in northeast Exeter
29th	Dan Gudgel (Lemoore), Paul Jones (Hanford), Ken Nakamura (Fresno), and Bill Moccia (Fresno) reported thunderstorms in progress

February was the month central California stopped only talking about El Niņo. It was the wettest month on record for Bakersfield, and was the third wettest February on record for Fresno. The February 3rd storm (details below) saw the lowest barometric pressure ever recorded during a February at the Fresno Yosemite International Airport, and the lowest barometric pressure ever was recorded at Meadows Field, Bakersfield. The wind gusts produced by this storm at Meadows Field came within 1 mph of tying the record during a February in Bakersfield.

The month opened with overrunning clouds from the storm spreading over central California. The dynamics were setting up with a strong jet stream (170+ mph) oriented perpendicular to the Sierra Nevada. Computer models indicated that the axis of the upper-level trough associated with the storm would move over the region on the 3^rd. These computer models also indicated a potential for significant rainfall from this storm. By the afternoon of the 1^st, the snow level was down to 4500 feet near Yosemite with a few reports of locally lower snows. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch for the foothills due to the potential for heavy rains and saturated grounds. By the next morning, the flood watch had been expanded to include the San Joaquin Valley floor as well. A few hours later reports began coming in of flooding in the far south end of the Valley and a flash flood warning was issued. By midday strong wind gusts were blowing through Kern and Tulare counties causing minor damage.

The storm continued into the 3^rd, with some street flooding reported in Mendota during the pre-dawn hours. Southerly winds increased throughout the morning, blowing down trees, power lines, fences, and causing some building damage. The strongest wind gust at Meadows Field in Bakersfield was 57 mph This was only 1 mph shy of the record for February in Bakersfield: 58 mph in February 1986. Flooding continued throughout the west side of the San Joaquin Valley; the Garzas Creek overflowed and flooded poultry farms, resulting in the loss of 50,000 chickens. Also in Merced County, the San Luis Creek flooded near Los Banos, as did Miles Creek near Planada. Silver Creek, in southwestern Fresno County, flooded southwest of Mendota. In the Kern County deserts, flash flooding washed out part of the Red Rock-Randsburg Road.

This was only the beginning of one of the wettest months on record. Measurable rain fell at Fresno Yosemite International Airport on 21 of February's 28 days; and of the seven days without measurable rain, traces of rain fell on four days. Bakersfield fared slightly better in terms of rain days, with five days without any rain at all and measurable rain on 20 days, but made up for this by having the wettest month ever recorded in 109 years of rainfall records. The near constant rains kept the ground in the foothills and the San Joaquin Valley floor saturated, and runoff caused persistent problems through the month. Strong thunderstorms rumbled across the San Joaquin Valley during the afternoon and evening of February 14^th. One storm cell spawned a weak tornado near Los Banos. This tornado, classed as an F0, briefly touched down about 1:30 p.m. 6 miles east of Los Banos. A little over an hour later, a line of strong thunderstorms pushed through western Merced and Fresno counties. One storm in this line spawned an F1 tornado that struck the town of Firebaugh at 2:41 p.m., knocking down trees and damaging some buildings. The line of storms continued to track southeastward, moving into western Tulare County around sunset. With the setting of the sun, the air began to cool and the thunderstorms weakened.

The next major storm struck on February 23^rd. This storm resulted in the White River flooding the town of Earlimart and closing Highway 99. Further south, Poso Creek flooded the town of Macfarland, and the Caliente Creek overflowed, flooding parts of Lamont. In the Southern Sierra Nevada, flooding washed out one lane of Lake Isabella Boulevard, and two homes were reported damaged in Rosamond by flooding in the northern Mojave Desert.

Spotter reports during February included

2nd	Mountain Valley Airport near Tehachapi reported gusts to 53 knots (61 mph)
	Ann Dedmond reported gusts to 50 mph at Coarsegold
	Miles Muzio reported 50 mph winds in Bakersfield with trees blown down
3rd	Ann Dedmond reported a gust to 62 mph at Coarsegold
6th	Frazier Park Fire Station reported one inch of snow on the ground
7th	Bob Jaehnig reported a gust to 39 mph at Oakhurst
	Bill Krause reported one inch of new snow of Badger Pass
	Elizabeth Specht reported a thunderstorm with 1/8" hail at Mariposa
14th	Ken Nakamura observed the touchdown of the F0 tornado near Los Banos
	Thunderstorms were reported by Dan Gudgel (Chowchilla), Ann Dedmond (Coarsegold), Bob Nester (Hanford), and Bob White (Squaw Valley)
	Doug Desmond reported a gust to 100 mph near Tehachapi. (These strong winds were localized through the canyons above Tehachapi.)
23rd	Bob Jaehnig reported heavy rain and wind gusts to 50 mph at Oakhurst
24th	Ron Dinsmoor reported minor flooding near Exeter

These are only samples of the over 500 spotter reports received in February. Our sincere thanks to all our storm spotters.