Thunderstorms are possible in Mariposa, Oakhurst, and Yosemite National Park
April 2, 2019 - The National Weather Service Hanford Office reports a few thunderstorms are possible this afternoon and evening.
Small hail, gusty winds are possible. In addition to dangerous cloud to ground lightning strikes, any thunderstorm can produce intense rainfall rates, leading to localized flooding.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service San Joaquin Valley - Hanford CA 345 AM PDT Tue Apr 2 2019 .SYNOPSIS... A storm system will bring scattered showers today, mostly in the Sierra from Yosemite to Kings Canyon. There is also a slight chance of thunderstorms north of Kern County this afternoon. Winds will become gusty in the Kern County Mountains and Desert this afternoon and evening. Dry conditions will prevail Wednesday then a chance for some light showers Thursday followed by a better chance for more significant precipitation Friday and Saturday. && .DISCUSSION... Satellite water vapor imagery shows the upper low spinning just off the Oregon coast this morning. Regional radars are detecting just scattered weak echoes across central California at this time while some moderate showers are observed over northern California. Precipitation amounts have been very light thus far only a few hundredths to a couple tenths of an inch, mainly over the Sierra. Temperatures are generally running a little warmer than this time last night with some areas around 10 degrees higher. Scattered showers will continue to develop this morning and will increase in coverage this afternoon as additional s/wv energy dives down towards the central CA coast. The Sierra Nevada will see the bulk of the showers due to orographic enhancement. There is a slight chance for afternoon thunderstorms as daytime heating maximizes instability and a ~110kt upper jet moves overhead. The thunder threat will be north of Kern County and mainly across the eastern side of the San Joaquin Valley and into the Sierra Nevada. Storms will be capable of producing briefly heavy rainfall, gusty winds, small hail and possibly funnel clouds. QPF is highest over the Sierra in Yosemite NP where around 0.75" is possible. Amounts taper to the south with around 0.25" forecast in the Tulare County Mountains. The Sierra Foothills can expect 0.25"-0.5" while the San Joaquin Valley and Kern County Mountains may only get a few hundredths to a tenth of an inch. But if any thunderstorms were to develop, they could put down more than a quarter inch of rain in a very short time. Snow levels will be above 7000 feet for the bulk of the event, only lowering to around 6000 feet Tuesday night as the system winds down. Snow amounts of 3-6 inches are forecast with local amounts of 9 inches possible around Yosemite NP. Winds will increase this afternoon as the onshore surface flow ramps up. Wind gusts to around 40 mph will be possible through and below the Kern County Mountain passes into the Desert this aftn and evening. Temperatures will be cooler today with highs falling back to near normal for early April. The trough quickly shifts east to over the Four Corners region on Wednesday as short wave ridging moves over California for a return to dry weather. This will be a brief break as another Pacific low pressure system approaches the coast on Thursday. The focus for this event will be farther north with QPF of only a few hundredths to a tenth of an inch, mainly from Fresno County northward. But yet another system is forecast to impact the region by the end of the week. There remains a fair amount of uncertainty regarding the track and therefore where and how much precipitation. The models have generally been trending farther north as it moves inland from Friday into Saturday.
Source: NWS
