Rain pummels western parts of central San Joaquin Valley

Scattered showers and thunderstorms rolled through the central San Joaquin Valley on Wednesday.

Mendota received a steady rain accompanied by lightning and thunder that had lasted about an hour as of 3:30 p.m., said Charles Johnson, the city’s administrative services director.

He said the streets began to flood, but there were no reports of serious problems, such as power outages or stuck vehicles. He estimated the downpour dropped a little less than an inch of rain.

The system hitting Mendota then moved toward Fresno, said Jim Dudley, National Weather Service meteorologist.

The showers had “pretty much cleared” the Fresno area by 6 p.m., with about 0.02 of an inch of rain measured, said Kevin Durfee, another meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford.

Some areas received more severe weather, Durfee said. Merced had large hail and some flooded streets, and the rainfall there was at 1.35 inches of rain by early evening, with more rain still falling.

Hanford clocked winds at speeds up to 40 mph, Durfee said. The wind, which preceded the rain, kicked up a lot of dust, which caused visibility issues.

Rain fell also in Visalia, but Durfee said there was “no measurable rainfall.”

Power lines were reported across the roadway at Harlan and Marks avenues near Riverdale. Power lines also were reported down along Highway 41 near Laurel Avenue in Stratford.

Heavy rain fell at Highway 41 and Jersey Avenue near Lemoore, the California Highway Patrol reported.

Quarter-inch hail was reported near the Kings County community of Armona.

Farmers are concerned about crop damage, especially cherries in Kings County.

In San Joaquin, rainfall between 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. was 0.38 inches, said Victor Neri, a mechanic with Grouleff Aviation.

This story was originally published April 27, 2016 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Rain pummels western parts of central San Joaquin Valley."