Thunderstorms Possible in Mariposa County, Oakhurst and Yosemite National Park Today
June 2, 2019 - The National Weather Service Hanford Office reports a few strong thunderstorms are possible in Central California during the afternoon and early evening hours today.
In addition to frequent lightning, hail, heavy rain and gusty winds may accompany thunderstorms.
Any thunderstorm can produce intense rainfall which can lead to localized flooding.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Hanford CA 317 AM PDT Sun Jun 2 2019 .SYNOPSIS... An area of low pressure will remain over Southern California the next couple of days and look to influence the weather over our forecast area. This feature will continue to bring a continued threat of afternoon and evening thunderstorms over mainly the mountain areas through at least Tuesday. However, isolated storms are even possible over parts of the San Joaquin Valley and into the Kern County desert. Temperatures will remain generally seasonal for this time of year through Monday, and then warmer than average temperatures are expected as high pressure builds over the area. && .DISCUSSION... This very stagnant pattern looks to continue at least through the next couple of days. The cutoff low that has increased the instability over the area the last couple of days is moving very little and will continue to sit over southern California through Tuesday. This will bring another day of showers and thunderstorms for especially the higher elevations of the Sierra. With the upper low circulation centered over central southern California the west side of the valley will have a northerly flow and the Sierra will have a more southerly flow. A few of the thunderstorms that develop over the Sierra could meander into parts of the San Joaquin Valley, such as what happened yesterday. Some of the storms could become strong but the main impact with slow storm movement will be heavy rainfall where the storms do develop. Of course lightning, hail, and gusty winds will also be threats. Near normal temperatures in the upper 80s to low 90s will be likely once again today. It will also continue to feel humid across many parts of the area as surface dew points are near 60 degrees in the SJV. So even though temperatures are running near normal it will feel hotter than it actually is with the increased humidities. On Tuesday, weak ridging will move into the region and warm temperatures to above normal and begin to bring us a break in the action for at least the rest of the week. By next weekend another trough will drop southward from the Pacific Northwest and once again destabilize things. At this time, guidance has the trough just skirting our area to the north but would not be surprised if the trough moves a bit further south into central California. Even if the trough does stay further north there will be increased chances for afternoon showers and thunderstorms over the Sierra crest. Now with meteorological summer officially here as of yesterday temperatures are looking more seasonable, which depending on who you ask is a bit of a shame. I guess it has to come sooner or later. I prefer the latter of the two, but have to admit we have been spoiled this year.Source: NWS
