342
FXUS66 KHNX 262215
AFDHNX
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
215 PM PST FRI DEC 26 2025
KEY MESSAGES
1. LINGERING MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE PRODUCING SHOWERS FROM TIME
TO TIME THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. SHOWERS MAY PRODUCE EXCESSIVE
RUNOFF WITH FLOODING.
2. HIGH CONFIDENCE OF HEAVY SNOW ABOVE 7000 FEET, WITH SNOW LOAD
IMPACTS ON ROOFS IN THE HIGH SIERRA CONTINUES. SNOW WILL
DIMINISH BY THIS EVENING. TRAVEL WILL BE DIFFICULT WITH WINDS
GUSTING UP TO AROUND 25 MPH.
3. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THE
JOAQUIN VALLEY.
DISCUSSION
A MID-LEVEL JET WILL EJECT THROUGH THE MAIN TROUGH TODAY AS THE
TROUGH AXIS FINALLY MOVES INLAND. THIS PROCESS WILL ALLOW FOR A
WEAKENING TREND IN THE UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT, WHILE OROGRAPHIC
LIFT DIMINISHES WITH THE LOSS OF MID-LEVEL FLOW. THE INLAND
TRANSITION OF THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL STEEPEN LOW TO MID-
LEVEL LAPSE RATES AND ALLOW FOR ANOTHER SHOT OF SHOWER ACTIVITY
WITH ISOLATED THUNDER THIS AFTERNOON. WITH HEAVIER RAINFALL
RATES POSSIBLE WITH THIS CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY TODAY, A FLOOD
WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. THE WINTER STORM
WARNING ALSO CONTINUES THROUGH THIS EVENING UNTIL THE MAIN
TROUGH SWINGS THROUGH. UP TO AROUND A FOOT OF ADDITIONAL
ACCUMULATION IN THE HIGH SIERRAS REMAINS LIKELY BASED ON THE
RECENT 12Z HREF RUN.
THE UPPER LEVEL PATTERN THIS WEEKEND INTO NEXT WEEK WILL LIKELY
SEE BROAD RIDGING DEVELOP OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WITH
POSITIVE HEIGHT ANOMALIES DRIFTING INTO CALIFORNIA. THE
SUBSIDENCE PATTERN WILL BRING NEAR TO JUST BELOW NORMAL
TEMPERATURES WITH LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS. LATER IN THE WEEK,
AN UPPER LOW OVER THE TROPICAL PACIFIC MAY LIFT NORTH TOWARD
SOUTHERN CA AS ANOTHER TROUGH APPROACHES FROM THE NORTH. RECENT
NBM RUNS OVER THE PREVIOUS 24-48 HOURS HAVE SEEN PRECIPITATION
CHANCES FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE WORK WEEK INCREASE, THOUGH
DETAILS REMAIN TO BE WORKED OUT.
AVIATION
SHOWERS WILL GRADUALLY DECREASE IN COVERAGE THROUGH 00Z-06Z,
WITH LINGERING ISOLATED SHOWERS LATE. SOME ISOLATED TS MAY BE
POSSIBLE, CONFIDENCE IS LESS THAN 20 PERCENT THUS WAS NOT
MENTIONED IN THE TAFS. BRIEF MVFR CIGS AND VISIBILITY POSSIBLE
WITH ANY OF THESE SHOWERS.
WITH A MOIST BOUNDARY LAYER IN PLACE AND WINDS BECOMING LIGHT
AND VARIABLE AFTER 06Z, VISIBILITIES MAY FALL TO MVFR LEVELS
WITH THE BEST POTENTIAL FROM VIS TO MCE.
WINDS GENERALLY LIGHT AND UNDER 10 KTS, WITH AN OCCASIONAL GUST
TO 18 KTS THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING ESPECIALLY NEAR SHOWERS.
SURFACE WINDS REMAIN LIGHT TOMORROW AND TURN TO THE NORTHWEST
AFTER 16Z.
AIR QUALITY ISSUES
ON FRIDAY DECEMBER 26, 2025, FIREPLACE/WOOD STOVE BURNING
STATUS IS: BURNING DISCOURAGED IN FRESNO, KERN, KINGS, MADERA,
MERCED, AND TULARE COUNTIES, AND KERN (GREATER FRAZIER PARK
AREA) AND SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK AND FOREST.
CERTAINTY
THE LEVEL OF CERTAINTY FOR DAYS 1 AND 2 IS HIGH.
THE LEVEL OF CERTAINTY FOR DAYS 3 THROUGH 7 IS MEDIUM.
CERTAINTY LEVELS INCLUDE LOW...MEDIUM...AND HIGH. PLEASE VISIT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HNX/CERTAINTY.HTML FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
AND/OR TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK.
HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 4 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON FOR CAZ300>339.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 10 PM PST THIS EVENING FOR CAZ323-
326>331.
PUBLIC...EDWARDS
AVIATION....EDWARDS
WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
CLICK HERE TO GO TO PREVIOUS BULLETINS.
Main Text Page