Weather Alerts for California

Recent Locations: Sylmar, CA

1. Extreme Heat Warning for: Western Mojave Desert

2. Fire Weather Watch for: Northern Sacramento Valley to Southern Tehama County Line Below 1000 Ft; Central Sacramento Valley including Glenn/Colusa/Yuba/Northern Sutter/Butte County Below 1000 Ft; Southern Sacramento Valley In Yolo/Sacramento/Far Western Placer/Southern Sutter and Solano County Below 1000 Ft - Excludes the Delta; Eastern Delta; Northern San Joaquin Valley in San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties Below 1000 ft - Excludes the Delta; Southern Motherlode From 1000 to 3000 Ft/Calaveras and Toulumne Counties; Southeast Edge Shasta/Trinity NF and Western Portions of Tehama/Glenn RU; Northern Sierra Foothills from 1000 to 3000 Ft. Includes Nevada-Yuba-Placer RU and Anador-Eldorado RU; Eastern Mendocino NF

3. High Wind Warning for: Mojave Desert Slopes

4. Lake Wind Advisory for: Mono; Mineral and Southern Lyon Counties; Greater Reno-Carson City-Minden Area; Western Nevada Basin and Range including Pyramid Lake

5. Red Flag Warning for: Indian Wells Valley

6. Red Flag Warning for: Kern County Desert

7. Red Flag Warning for: Southern Mono County; Eastern Lassen County; Northern Sierra Front - Carson City/Douglas/Storey/Southern Washoe/Eastern Lyon/Far Southern Lassen Counties; Southern Sierra Front - Alpine/Northern Mono/Southern Lyon/Western Mineral Counties; West Humboldt Basin - Pershing County; Lahontan Basin - Churchill and Eastern Mineral Counties; Northern Washoe County

8. Wind Advisory for: Greater Lake Tahoe Area; Greater Lake Tahoe Area

9. Wind Advisory for: Indian Wells Valley; Mojave Desert

10. Wind Advisory for: Interstate 5 Corridor

11. Wind Advisory for: Lassen-Eastern Plumas-Eastern Sierra Counties; Northern Washoe County

12. Wind Advisory for: Mono; Mineral and Southern Lyon Counties; Greater Reno-Carson City-Minden Area; Western Nevada Basin and Range including Pyramid Lake

13. Wind Advisory for: San Gorgonio Pass Near Banning

14. Wind Advisory for: San Luis Obispo County Beaches; San Luis Obispo County Inland Central Coast; Santa Barbara County Central Coast Beaches; Santa Barbara County Inland Central Coast

15. Wind Advisory for: Santa Barbara County Southwestern Coast; Santa Ynez Mountains Western Range

16. Wind Advisory for: Santa Lucia Mountains; Southern Salinas Valley

17. Wind Advisory for: Western Antelope Valley Foothills; Eastern Antelope Valley Foothills; Antelope Valley

18. Wind Advisory for: Western Mojave Desert

19. Wind Advisory for: Western San Gabriel Mountains and Highway 14 Corridor

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Current U.S. National Radar--Current

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National Weather Forecast--Current

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National Weather Forecast for Tomorrow

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North America Water Vapor (Moisture)

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Weather Topic: What is Rain?

Home - Education - Precipitation - Rain

Rain Next Topic: Shelf Clouds

Precipitation in the form of water droplets is called rain. Rain generally has a tendency to fall with less intensity over a greater period of time, and when rainfall is more severe it is usually less sustained.

Rain is the most common form of precipitation and happens with greater frequency depending on the season and regional influences. Cities have been shown to have an observable effect on rainfall, due to an effect called the urban heat island. Compared to upwind, monthly rainfall between twenty and forty miles downwind of cities is 30% greater.

Next Topic: Shelf Clouds

Weather Topic: What is Sleet?

Home - Education - Precipitation - Sleet

Sleet Next Topic: Snow

Sleet is a form of precipitation in which small ice pellets are the primary components. These ice pellets are smaller and more translucent than hailstones, and harder than graupel. Sleet is caused by specific atmospheric conditions and therefore typically doesn't last for extended periods of time.

The condition which leads to sleet formation requires a warmer body of air to be wedged in between two sub-freezing bodies of air. When snow falls through a warmer layer of air it melts, and as it falls through the next sub-freezing body of air it freezes again, forming ice pellets known as sleet. In some cases, water droplets don't have time to freeze before reaching the surface and the result is freezing rain.

Next Topic: Snow