September and October of 2002 were mostly benign with no severe weather anywhere in the seven counties watched over by WFO San Joaquin Valley. However, this does not mean that there was no significant weather. September began with a push of subtropical moisture over the Tehachapi Mountains, triggering a thunderstorm over the Cameron Canyon area.

A weak storm system moved through central California on September 4^th bringing mostly sprinkles or light rain. Heavier rains moved into Yosemite Park the next day with 0.14 inch of rain falling at Tuolumne Meadows. Rain spread southward across the region through the 6^th with around a quarter inch of rain reported at Oakhurst and Glennville.

Rainfall amounts on the San Joaquin Valley floor remained light. Merced airport, Fresno, and Bakersfield did not measure a trace over the three day period. The Madera airport, however, received 0.03 inch.

Another system brought a thunderstorm to the Yosemite area on September 15^th, followed by weak storms on the 24^th and 28^th that brought more sprinkles to the Valley floor. Neither Fresno or Bakersfield saw any measurable rain during September.

October began with the first winter storm of the season hitting the Southern Sierra Nevada. A half inch of snow fell on Tuolumne Meadows, while further south an inch of snow fell at Grant Grove. The cold front from the storm brought gusty winds throughout the interior of central California, with gusts to 40-45 mph on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, and to 50 mph over the El Paso Mountains in the Kern county deserts.

Another storm reached the region in mid-October, bringing thunderstorms to the mountains and deserts. A third storm spread showers over the Kern county deserts and the mountains of Kern and Tulare counties. A few showers drifted off the Tulare county mountains to bring light rain to the far east side of the San Joaquin Valley near Porterville and Lindsey on October 24^th. Unsettled weather continued over the Tehachapi Mountains the next day with light showers falling on parts of the Grapevine.

For the fourth consecutive month, Fresno did not record any measurable rain. Bakersfield was even drier, with October being its fifth consecutive month. By the time either city finally saw measurable rain on November 6^th, Fresno had gone 158 days (since June 1^st), and Bakersfield had seen only trace amounts for 169 days (since May 21^st). However, these "dry" stretches pale in comparison for the "no-rain" records: 214 consecutive days without measurable rain for Fresno (April 3^rd through November 2^nd, 1928), and 211 consecutive days without measurable rain for Bakersfield (March 2^nd through September 29^th, 1966).

The weather pattern changed sharply in early November as a strong winter storm moved into California. A Winter Storm Watch was issued on November 5^th for the Southern Sierra Nevada north of Kern county, followed by a Winter Storm Warning a day later. Also on the 6^th, High Wind Watches were issued for the Kern county mountains and deserts.

The storm reached central California during the morning hours of November 7^th with snow continuing for nearly 2½ days. Over seven feet of new snow fell on the Chagoopa Plateau in the Tulare county mountains, which saw a final storm total of 80 inches of snow.

Winds gusted over 50 mph in the Indian Wells Canyon in eastern Kern county, and over the crest of the El Paso Mountains. Very strong winds buffeted eastern Kern county during the afternoon of November 9^th, with a gust to 91 mph at Indian Wells Canyon, and to 69 mph at the Inyokern airport.

At the lower elevations, heavy rains dropped 16.38 inches of water on Johnsondale. The recent forest fires had destroyed most of the vegetation that would have kept soils in place, and heavy runoff from the rains caused flooding in southeastern Tulare county. To the south, 6 inches of rain fell at Glennville, causing some flooding. Flooding also occurred in the foothills of the Southern Sierra Nevada, where some locations saw 10 inches of rain.

In the wake of the first major storm of the season, slow evaporation of standing water on the San Joaquin Valley floor saturated the lower levels of the atmosphere. This created conditions ripe for the start of the Tule fog season.

Late in the evening of November 13^th, fog formed throughout much of the central and southern San Joaquin Valley, with visibilities dropping to less than a quarter-mile over much of the region.

Night and morning dense Valley fog became nearly a daily occurrence for some areas through the third week of November, until the airmass over the San Joaquin Valley became too dry to support widespread dense fog.

A storm brought gusty winds to the mountains and deserts on November 25^th knocking down trees and power lines around Yosemite Valley. Winds gusted over 60 mph at Ellery Lake, Bear Peak, and Laural Mountain. This storm was followed by another system four days later which brought around a half inch of rain to the eastern Kern county desert.

	NAME	LOCATION	REPORT
September 1st	Frank Springer	Tehachapi	Thunderstorm over Cameron Canyon
Spetember 6th	Eleanor Heiskell	Glennville	0.02 inch of rain
	Elizabeth Specht	Lush Meadow	Storm total: 0.22 inch of rain
October 1st	Duane Johnson	Hume Lake	0.31 inch of precipitation; snow level 5500 feet
October 16th	Jerry Harness	California City	Cloud-to-ground lightning
	Frank Springer	Tehachapi	Thunderstorm to the north
October 17th	Shurla Dudley	Rosamond	Dry thunderstorm in progress
October 28th	Jim Dudley	Tejon Pass	Light to moderate rain from Lebec to near the crest
November 7th	Sherry Buck	Coalinga	Southeast winds gusting to 25 mph
	Ann Dedmond	Coaresgold	Southeast winds gusting to 35 mph
	Elizabeth Specht	Lush Meadow	Windy. Tree limbs down
	Simon Gonzales	Merced	Gust to 53 mph
November 8th	John Hibler	Bootjack	Storm total: 2.28 inches rain
	Duane Johnson	Hume Lake	Storm total: 3.86 inches rain
	Virgina Burrows	Mountain Mesa	Storm total: 1.90 inch rain
	Sarah Corum	Visalia	0.48 inch rain
November 9th	Ellen Arnold	10 mi. N of Springville	5.00 inches rain in 24 hours. Total: 7.05 inches rain
	Eleanor Heiskell	Glennville	4.76 inches rain in 24 hours. Total: 6.17 inches rain
	Ken Nobles	Oakhurst	Storm total: 6.22 inches rain
	Sherry Buck	Coalinga	Mudlside on Highway 198; 2 miles west of Coalinga
November 16th	Jim Scofield	SW Visalia	Visibility 300 feet in dense fog
November 29th	Jim Dudley	Rosamond	Light rain shower; trace of rain
November 30th	Shelley Singer	Pine Mountain	Snow at 6000 feet

Fresno
September 25th	Tied record high minimum temperature for date of 69 degrees, last set in 1997.
November 7th	Record rainfall for date of 0.56 inch. The old record was 0.28 inch, set in 1994.
November 8th	Record rainfall for date of 0.98 inch. The old record was 0.23 inch, set in 1909.
	Record high minimum temperature for date of 59 degrees. The old record was 58 degrees, set in 1991.
November 21ST	Tied record high temperature for date of 81 degrees, last set in 1926.
Bakersfield
September 24th	Tied record high minimum temperature for the date of 70 degrees, last set in 1975.
September 26th	Tied record high minimum temperature for the date of 69 degrees, last set in 1975.
November 8th	Record high minimum temperature for the date of 61 degrees. The old record was 58 degrees, set in 1991
	Record rainfall for date of 0.76 inch. The old record was 0.31 inch, set in 1999.
November 9th	Record rainfall for date of 0.45 inch. The old record was 0.16 inch, set in 1964.
November 21st	Tied record high temperature for date of 82 degrees, last set in 1932.
November 30th	Tied record high minimum temperature for date of 51 degrees, last set in 1970.