Area Forecast Discussion
   National Weather Service Hanford CA 
   336 AM PDT Tue Mar 15 2022 

   
  .SYNOPSIS...An upper trough will bring increased clouds to our  
  area today along with a chance of precipitation north of Fresno  
  County. It will also bring a period of increased winds to the wind 
  prone areas of Kern County. Dry weather and warmer than normal  
  temperatures are expected Wednesday through Friday. A storm system 
  is forecast to bring valley rain and mountain snow on Saturday  
  and Saturday night.  
   
  && 
   
  .DISCUSSION...IR imagery showing an upper trough to our northwest  
  just beginning to push southeast into our CWFA this morning. This 
  system will bring increasing clouds to our areas today along with 
  increased winds most noticably along the Mojave Desert Slopes 
  where a Wind Advisory remains in effect from noon PDT today until 
  900 am PDT Wednesday. The deeper moisture is expected to remain  
  north of Fresno County and QPF progs are only indicating one to  
  two tens of in inch of liquid precipitation across Yosemite  
  National Park with the snow level around 8000 feet. A few  
  hundredths of an inch of precipitation are possible along the  
  Sierra foothills in Mariposa and Madera Counties and in Merced  
  County today. Temperatures will remain fairly mild across our  
  area today with high temepratures still expected to be above  
  climatological normals. 
   
  This system is expected to move east of the area on Wednesday. 
  Some upslope clouds might persist into Wednesday morning along  
  the valley facing slopes of the Tehachapi Mountains and the wind 
  prone areas will continue to have some strong gusts through late 
  Wednesday morning. By Wednesday afternoon, skies are expected to 
  clear out and winds will decrease as high pressure builds inland.  
  This high will be the predominant weather system across our area 
  on Thursday and Friday and keep mainly clear skies and dry 
  conditions across our area along with warmer than normal  
  temperatures. 
   
  Medium range ensemble means are still showing a moist upper  
  trough moving across central CA this weekend with most of the  
  ensemble members in fairly good agreement. The progs are showing 
  the trough will move into our area on Saturday and bring cooler  
  temperatures and a period of precipitation to our area Saturday  
  morning through Saturday night. QPF progs are suggesting a half  
  inch to an inch of liquid precipitation over the higher Sierra  
  Nevada with the snow level between 6000 and 7000 feet until  
  Saturday evening when it will lower to 4000 to 5000 feet behind  
  the accompanying cold front. Between 5 and 10 inches of new snow  
  will be possible above 7000 feet this weekend. Between two and  
  four tenths of an inch of liquid precipitation is expected over  
  the Tehachapi Mountains with up to an inch of snow possible above  
  4000 feet on Saturday night so adverse impacts to travel over the 
  Kern County passes are possible. Between one to three tenths of  
  an inch of rainfall is expected over the San Joaquin Valley and  
  three to six tenths of an inch of rain are expected over the  
  Sierra foothills.  
   
  This system will move east of our area by Sunday with decreasing  
  showers taking place in the morning and skies clearing out by  
  afternoon. Model consensus is indicating an upper ridge  
  amplifying off the western CONUS coast on Monday and pushing  
  inland over CA by midweek which will result in another dry spell  
  for our area and a return to warmer than normal temperatures. 
   
  && 
   
  .AVIATION...Increasing areas of mountain obscuring IFR in low  
  clouds and precipitation over the Sierra Nevada north of Kings  
  Canyon through 18Z today when mainly IFR thru 24Z today with  
  gradual improvement to VFR by 06Z Wed. Increasing areas of MVFR  
  with local mountain obscuring IFR over the remainder of the Sierra 
  Nevada and the Tehachapi Mountains and valley facing slopes in  
  upslope clouds after 21Z today. Otherwise, VFR conditions will  
  prevail over the central CA interior for the next 24 hours. 
   
  && 
   
  .AIR QUALITY ISSUES...None. 

Source: NWS