The next storm consisted of two components. The first reached California on December 22nd, with only a brief pause in the precipitation before the second component arrived. This was a wet storm, and 3-day rainfall amounts north of Kern County ranged from a third of an inch to around an inch and a third, while the south end of the San Joaquin Valley remained ���rain-shadowed.��� In the Southern Sierra Nevada foothills, rainfall amounts approached 4 inches in the wettest locations, while up to 40 inches of snow fell in the high country of the Southern Sierra Nevada.
The storm moved east of the region on December 24th. With abundant ground moisture and light winds, the stage was set for dense fog development Christmas morning. The fog subsequently gave way to a cold storm that arrived during the afternoon of December 25th, quickly spreading through the region. By daybreak on the 26th, up to 4 inches of snow had fallen on Walker Pass, and secondary roads near Tehachapi were closed due to snow. Precipitation continued through the day on the 26th, and persisted over the mountains into the next morning, with icy conditions reported on Grapevine during the morning of December 27th. New snow accumulations of up to 14 inches fell on the Southern Sierra Nevada, and up to 7 inches fell in the Tehachapi Mountains.
An upper-level short-wave ridge brought another round of dense fog to the central and southern San Joaquin Valley during the morning of December 28th. The ridge gave way to yet another storm, which reached the central California interior during the evening of the 28th and continued into December 29th. Behind the storm, a northwest flow developed over the San Joaquin Valley. Upslope clouds formed along the valley-facing slopes of the Kern County mountains, triggering isolated snow showers that persisted into the morning of December 30th.
An upper-level short-wave dropped into the central California interior late on December 31st. This short-wave triggered a few sprinkles over Merced County shortly before midnight. Otherwise, 2012 ended on a dry note across the Hanford warning/forecast area.
2012 was unseasonably warm with below normal precipitation. Bakersfield had 4.41 inches of rain, or 68.2 percent of its annual average of 6.47 inches. Fresno reported 9.97 inches of rain in 2012, for 86.7 percent of its normal of 11.50 inches.
Fresno had its warmest year on record, with an average temperature of 66.7 degrees, which was 2.3 degrees above the average annual temperature of 64.4 degrees. The last five months of the year ranked in the ���top 10��� for each month. August and September 2012 were the warmest for those months on record, and August 2012 also was the 5th warmest month on record overall.
Although Bakersfield was slightly warmer with an average temperature of 67.0 degrees, this was not enough to rank in the top 10 warmest years. The average annual temperature for Bakersfield is 65.2 degrees.

Winter Weather in S SIERRA MTNS, CALIFORNIA
From 25-DEC-12 18:00:00 to 26-DEC-12 16:00:00 (PST-8)
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Park/Forest Service

Winter Weather in TULARE CTY MTNS, CALIFORNIA
From 25-DEC-12 18:00:00 to 26-DEC-12 16:00:00 (PST-8)
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Park/Forest Service

Winter Weather in KERN CTY MTNS, CALIFORNIA
From 26-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 27-DEC-12 01:50:00 (PST-8)
Property damage: 50.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Dense Fog in E CENTRAL S.J. VALLEY, CALIFORNIA
From 25-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 25-DEC-12 11:00:00 (PST-8)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Dense Fog in SW S.J. VALLEY, CALIFORNIA
From 25-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 25-DEC-12 11:00:00 (PST-8)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Dense Fog in SE S.J. VALLEY, CALIFORNIA
From 25-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 25-DEC-12 11:00:00 (PST-8)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Storm in S SIERRA MTNS, CALIFORNIA
From 21-DEC-12 14:00:00 to 24-DEC-12 04:00:00 (PST-8)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Park/Forest Service

Winter Storm in TULARE CTY MTNS, CALIFORNIA
From 21-DEC-12 14:00:00 to 24-DEC-12 04:00:00 (PST-8)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Park/Forest Service