It was freezing cold in Modesto overnight. Just how cold, and what’s ahead this week?
.jpg "Frost sparkles on a car in north Modesto before dawn Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. The overnight low was below 30 degrees in much of Stanislaus County.")
What was the overnight low temperature in the Modesto area? Depends on whom you ask, and where.
The National Weather Service in Sacramento issued a hard-freeze watch for Modesto between Monday night and Tuesday morning, saying temperatures would fall to 29 degrees.
A forecaster reached at the Sacramento office in the 6 a.m. hour Tuesday said the data station at the Modesto Airport shows it was even colder than expected, hitting 27 degrees at one point since midnight Monday. A collection station downtown, though, showed a low of 37, he said, noting “a big difference whether you’re in an urban area or on the fringe.”
The Modesto Irrigation District, which collects temperature data downtown, shows the low was 36, recorded in the 6 a.m. hour. The Turlock Irrigation District’s recorded low was 36 degrees, at 6 a.m. at the TID control center near the Canal Street office. At 7, the Oakdale Irrigation District showed the temperature was 29 degrees.
Other overnight lows recorded by the weather service in Stanislaus County included 28 in Riverbank, 30 east of Salida and 30 in Keyes.
The night was by far the coldest in the forecast this week. The weather service says temperatures in Modesto during the nights ahead will be in the low to mid-40s.
But replacing the freeze watch are a high-wind warning, in effect from 8 p.m. Tuesday until noon Wednesday, and a flash-flood watch from late afternoon until 4 p.m. Thursday.
The Tuesday forecast is for a 60% chance of rain, mainly after 4 p.m. Less than a tenth of an inch is expected.
But rain is certain during the night, and it could be heavy at times, the weather service says. Between three-fourths and 1 inch is expected.
A light southeast wind during the day is predicted to rise to up to 26 mph Tuesday night, and then up to 40 mph after midnight. Post-midnight gusts could hit as high as 60 mph, the forecast says.
Wednesday holds a 90% chance of rain, a high of only 49 degrees, and a southeast wind of 22 to 28 mph, with gusts up to 37. Rainfall is expected to be between a half and three-quarters of an inch.
Even more rain — up to an additional inch — is in the forecast for Wednesday night.
The 90% chance of rain continues into Thursday, though the weather service forecast does not estimate how much will fall. The wind warning ends at noon, and gusts Thursday are expected to be only as high as 18 mph.
According to the Stanislaus County Office of Emergency Services, the flash-flood warning is for the burn-scar areas from the SCU lightning complex fires in the western part of the county. Heavy rain could result in debris flows, it warns.
The chance of rain begins decreasing Thursday night (70%) and Friday (30%) but continues in the forecast at least through Monday. Between Tuesday night and Friday morning, Modesto could get between 2 and 3 inches, the weather service says.
Wednesday’s high of 49 degrees is the lowest of the week, with other daily highs predicted to be near 53 Thursday, 54 Friday, 58 Saturday, 60 Sunday and 59 Monday.
This story was originally published January 26, 2021 at 7:44 AM.
