Weather Alerts for California

Recent Locations: Santa Clarita, CA  

1. Air Quality Alert for: Coachella Valley; San Gorgonio Pass Near Banning

2. High Wind Warning for: Mojave Desert Slopes

3. Wind Advisory for: Imperial County Southwest

4. Wind Advisory for: Joshua Tree NP West; Salton Sea; Imperial County Southeast; Imperial County West; Imperial Valley

5. Wind Advisory for: Joshua Tree NP West; Salton Sea; Imperial County Southeast; Imperial County West; Imperial Valley

6. Wind Advisory for: Riverside County Mountains; San Diego County Mountains; Coachella Valley; San Diego County Deserts

7. Wind Advisory for: San Bernardino County Mountains; Apple and Lucerne Valleys

8. Wind Advisory for: San Gorgonio Pass Near Banning

9. Wind Advisory for: South End of the Upper Sierra; Piute Walker Basin; Tehachapi; Indian Wells Valley; Mojave Desert

10. Wind Advisory for: Western Mojave Desert

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Current U.S. National Radar--Current

The Current National Weather Radar is shown below with a UTC Time (subtract 5 hours from UTC to get Eastern Time).

Current U.S. National Radar

National Weather Forecast--Current

The Current National Weather Forecast and National Weather Map are shown below.

Today's National Weather Map

National Weather Forecast for Tomorrow

Tomorrow National Weather Forecast and Tomorrow National Weather Map are show below.

Tomorrows National Weather Map

North America Water Vapor (Moisture)

This map shows recent moisture content over North America. Bright and colored areas show high moisture (ie, clouds); brown indicates very little moisture present; black indicates no moisture.

North American Water Vapor Map

Weather Topic: What is Precipitation?

Home - Education - Precipitation - Precipitation

Precipitation Next Topic: Rain

Precipitation can refer to many different forms of water that may fall from clouds. Precipitation occurs after a cloud has become saturated to the point where its water particles are more dense than the air below the cloud.

In most cases, precipitation will reach the ground, but it is not uncommon for precipitation to evaporate before it reaches the earth's surface. When precipitation evaporates before it contacts the ground it is called Virga. Graupel, hail, sleet, rain, drizzle, and snow are forms of precipitation, but fog and mist are not considered precipitation because the water vapor which constitutes them isn't dense enough to fall to the ground.

Next Topic: Rain

Weather Topic: What are Shelf Clouds?

Home - Education - Cloud Types - Shelf Clouds

Shelf Clouds Next Topic: Sleet

A shelf cloud is similar to a wall cloud, but forms at the front of a storm cloud, instead of at the rear, where wall clouds form.

A shelf cloud is caused by a series of events set into motion by the advancing storm; first, cool air settles along the ground where precipitation has just fallen. As the cool air is brought in, the warmer air is displaced, and rises above it, because it is less dense. When the warmer air reaches the bottom of the storm cloud, it begins to cool again, and the resulting condensation is a visible shelf cloud.

Next Topic: Sleet