Winter Storm Warning for the Kern River Valley

A winer storm will start moving into Kern County Friday, bring wind rain and snow in the higher elevations and prompting the National Weather Service to issue high wind warnings and a winter storm warning  for the higher elevations of the Southern Sierra Nevada in the Lake Isabella area.

The Kern County deserts and the western edge of  Kern County are under a high wind warning and a wind advisory covers the Tehachapi Mountains from north of Tehachapi to the Grapevine.

The only good news is no flooding rains are expected but snow could impact drivers  on roads above the 3,000-foot level. A winter storm warning covers the Southern Sierra Nevada above 3,000 feet in Kern County

The high wind warning is in effect from 8 p.m. Friday through 8 p.m. Saturday. Sustained winds  of 30 to 40 miles per hour are possible in the deserts and winds could gust up to 50 miles per hour, Winds will be lighter in the Lake Isabella area but could still gust as high as 40 miles per hour.

The mountain  communities around Lake Isabella figure to see the highest rainfall with more than an inch possible Saturday and Saturday night. Snow is expected only in the higher elevations.

Ridgecrest and the deserts can expect much less rain, probably less than a quarter inch, It’s the same story over on the west side of the county where it is expected to be windy but with no heavy rains.