A chance of Thunderstorms today for Eastern Mariposa County including Yosemite National Park and Eastern Madera County including Oakhurst
June 5, 2020 - The National Weather Service Hanford Office reports a few strong thunderstorms are possible across the Sierra Nevada Friday afternoon and evening.
Small hail, brief heavy rain and wind gusts near 45 miles per hour are some of the hazards associated with strong thunderstorms.
In addition to dangerous cloud to ground lightning strikes, any thunderstorm can produce localized flooding.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Hanford CA 327 AM PDT Fri Jun 5 2020 .SYNOPSIS... Chance of thunderstorms will occur today over the higher elevations of the Sierra and down into the Kern County Mountains. A cooling trend starting today will bring temperatures back to well below normal by Sunday. Breezy to windy conditions are likely through the weekend especially in wind prone areas. Temperatures begin trending back to slightly above normal levels by the middle of next week. && .DISCUSSION... Ridging that has brought us the short lived hot weather the last couple of days is beginning to move back eastward as troughing over the eastern Pacific pushes eastward into the western third of the CONUS. This troughing will bring breezy to gusty winds but the most noticeable change will be the cooling. This troughing moving into the region will also bring an increase in mid to upper level moisture from the south. This influx of moisture will increase cloud cover but also increase chances of convection over the higher elevations of the Sierra and the Kern County Mountains later today. Main impacts expected with any storm development will be brief heavy downpours, small hail, and gusty winds. Of course, any thunderstorms will have dangerous lightning. So if out hiking or camping in the mountains today in this cooler weather, keep an eye to the sky. By Sunday, we will see high temperatures in the San Joaquin Valley and Kern desert areas in the mid 70 degree zone. This will be a nice change for most. A more quasi-zonal on shore pattern aloft will put the hottest weather behind us for at least the next several days. Weak ridging will move into the region on Wednesday and Thursday which will temporarily raise temperatures back to above normal, but at this time it looks like most valley and desert areas will see high temperatures stay below the century mark.Source: NWS
