Text Products for PNS Issued by HNX

Public Information Statement
Issued by NWS San Joaquin Valley, CA
Versions: 1 2 3 4
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Public Information Statement
National Weather Service HANFORD CA
919 AM PDT Tue Oct 3 2023

...New River Forecast Point: Kernville, Kern County...

TO: Subscribers: Emergency Management Officials…News Media…and Other Users

SUBJECT: New River Forecast Point: Kernville, Kern County

The National Weather Service (NWS) Hanford (HNX) office has created a new
river forecast point for the Kern River in Kern County. In August
of 2023, the NWS Hanford Hydrology team conducted a survey of the
Kernville gage at Kern River in Kern County, and determined that
the town of Kernville experiences flood impacts beginning when the
Kern River reaches 13.5 feet in depth. Kernville saw many flood
impacts over the past winter with the historic rainfall that
occurred. As such, from a meteorological, hydrological, and
dissemination standpoint, the creation of a river forecast point
and flood stages along the Kern River at Kernville will better
serve NWS customers in Kern County and the towns of Kernville and
Riverkern. Effective Wednesday, November 1, 2023, the National
Weather Service plans to incorporate this new river forecast point
into our flood messaging and products, alongside the other five
established river forecast points our office manages.

For the Kernville river forecast point, monitor/action stage will
be 12.5 feet, flood stage will be 13.5 feet, moderate flood stage
will be 17.5 feet, and major flood stage will be 20 feet. Below
are the flood stages with the corresponding flood impacts seen by
the Kernville community.

Kernville RIver Forecast Point Flood Impacts

Stage (ft)..........Impacts

12.5................Increased river flows almost reach the top of
the river bank.
13.5................Flooding of Riverside Park next to Kernville
gage house is imminent. Water has begun to
overflow along the river bank.
17.0................Riverside Park begins to see scoured riverbank
 damage.
20.0................Flood waters begin to inundate businesses,
properties in downtown Kernville. Roads begin
seeing significant flooding, impacting home
and emergency service access to Kernville.

The NWS, California Nevada River Forecast Center (CNRFC), and Local
and County Officials have supported the above creation of a
forecast point. If you have feedback or questions regarding these
changes please email any of the contacts listed below.

The data for these sites are provided by the US Army Corps of Engineers
(USACE), a partner of the NWS. Without this critical data our
forecasts and warnings would not be possible. The USACE website is
here: https://www.spk-wc.usace.army.mil/

Andy Bollenbacher and Antoinette Serrato
Hydrology Focal Points
National Weather Service Hanford
andrew.bollenbacher@noaa.gov
antoinette.serrato@noaa.gov

$$
National Weather Service National Headquarters
