Our Service Area

Our Service Area
The NWS San Joaquin Valley County Warning and Forecast Area (CFWA) includes a large portion of the central California interior. Our CWFA lies between the crests of the Diablo Range and the Sierra Nevada from Merced and Mariposa Counties south through the Tehachapi Mountains, just beyond Bakersfield. It also includes all of Yosemite National Park and the Kern County portion of the Mojave desert. Elevations vary from only 90 feet above sea level near the Merced County line, to 14,495 feet at the peak of Mt. Whitney (the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States). Our service area includes valley, mountain, and desert climates, divisible into 21 forecast zones...

Several recreational areas lie within the service area...

National parks 1. Yosemite 2. Kings Canyon 3. Sequoia	National Forests 4. Stanislaus 5. Sierra 6. Sequoia
State parks 7. Red Rock Canyon 8. Great Valley Grasslands 9. Tomo-Kahni State reserves - 10. Tule Elk State recreational areas 11. McConnell 12. Millerton Lake 13. San Luis Reservoir State historical parks 14. Wassama Round House 15. Colonel Allensworth 16. Fort Tejon 17. George J. Hatfield

Demographics of the public service/forecast area are as follows, using 1994 census data...

County	Population	Area (mi²)
Fresno	737,289	6017.9
Kern	617,528	8162.0
Kings	113,089	1391.6
Madera	107,004	2153.4
Mariposa	15,772	1462.9
Merced	194,407	1372.0
Tulare	346,843	4839.4
Yosemite Nat'l Park	n/a	1200.0
Total	2,035,226	26,599.2

Most of the economy of the service area is related to agriculture. However, many jobs are related to oil production, forestry, and aerospace. Lemoore Naval Air Station, China Lake Naval Weapons Center, and Edwards Air Force Base are also major employers in the service area.