250 
fxus66 khnx 192130 
afdhnx 


Area forecast discussion 
National Weather Service San Joaquin Valley - Hanford California 
230 PM PDT Friday Mar 19 2010 


Synopsis... 
a ridge of high pressure along with above normal temperatures and 
dry conditions will prevail through the week and continue through 
the weekend. 


&& 


Discussion...clear skies dominated the region today as a ridge of 
high pressure now takes control. While sunny skies were seen all 
day...temperatures remain on the cool side. Yet...will still see 
maximum temperature values reaching the 70s across the San Joaquin Valley. 
The ridge...currently offshore is prognosticated to move over California 
by Saturday morning. Therefore...will see a warming trend on 
Saturday and possibly Sunday before the ridge flattens. A short 
wave trough will ride over the ridge on Sunday as a cutoff low 
develops off the Southern California coast. This split of the 
energy will have the cutoff low slowly drifting southeast toward 
Baja California California as the northern piece of energy moves in as an 
inside slider. Will not expect much in the way of precipitation from this 
inside slider...but winds may become an issue. Currently...the 
forecast is calling for a slight chance of precipitation over the higher 
terrain of the Sierra Nevada on Tuesday. By Wednesday...models 
begin to show the split flow merging back together over the Great 
Basin. Yet...any significant energy will remain east of the 
district with only clouds remaining over central California. On 
Thursday...models show the cutoff low and weak trough continuing to 
consolidate as it moves into The Four Corners area. A ridge 
pattern will move back over the West Coast at this time. After a 
slight drop in temperatures toward midweek...temperatures may rise 
again by the end of the period. Will keep the longer term dry as 
models show no significant moisture source moving into the area 
for the next seven days. Of note...the current European model (ecmwf) solution is 
showing a trough moving into California by day seven (friday) which 
may introduce another cooling trend. 


&& 


Aviation... 
haze in the San Joaquin Valley may provide local MVFR visibilities 
14z-20z. Otherwise...VFR conditions will prevail elsewhere across 
the central California interior through 00z Sunday. 


&& 


Air quality issues...none. 


&& 


Hnx watches/warnings/advisories...none. 


&& 


$$ 


Public...Molina 
AVN/fw...mv 
synopsis...wp 


Weather.Gov/Hanford