Winter Storm in California, January 3 to 4, 1998

Name: Winter Storm in California, January 3 to 4, 1998
Start: 1998-01-03T20:00
End: 1998-01-04T22:00
Location: California

January 3 to 4, 1998 · NWS STO · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

A Pacific winter storm brought more than 2 feet of snow to higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada. Snow fell as low as 1500 feet in the Sierra Nevada and Shasta-Cascades Ranges.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 8

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS STO wrote it up.

A Pacific winter storm brought more than 2 feet of snow to higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada. Snow fell as low as 1500 feet in the Sierra Nevada and Shasta-Cascades Ranges. Winds in higher elevations created zero-visibility conditions. CALTRANS officials closed Interstate 80 over Donner Summit four 4 hours, stranding motorists. U.S. Route 50 was closed 3 hours for avalanche control with the heavy snows and high winds. Beginning as rain in the lower elevations, the storm caused a mudslide on southbound Interstate 5 at 0130 PST on the 4th in the Shasta Lake region, shutting down traffic for 12 hours. Many ski resorts had to close some higher elevation ski lifts due to the windy conditions. 14,000 customers lost power for 4 to 8 hours in San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Eldorado, Amador, Calaveras, and Tuolumne Counties when three 115,000 volt transmission lines shorted out in the snow and high winds. Power outages were also recorded in Shasta County.

Event by event

8 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Sw Shasta/W Tehama/W Glenn/X Nw Colusa/N Lake

When: January 3, 8:00 PM PST to January 4, 4:00 PM PST
Where: Sw Shasta/W Tehama/W Glenn/X Nw Colusa/N Lake forecast zone

Winter Storm, Ne & Ec Shasta

When: January 3, 8:00 PM PST to January 4, 2:00 PM PST
Where: Ne & Ec Shasta forecast zone

Winter Storm, Nw & Nc Shasta

When: January 3, 10:00 PM PST to January 4, 6:00 PM PST
Where: Nw & Nc Shasta forecast zone

Winter Storm, Lake T N & X Sw/W Yolo/X Sw Colusa/E Napa/X Nw Solano

When: January 3, 10:00 PM PST to January 4, 6:00 PM PST
Where: Lake T N & X Sw/W Yolo/X Sw Colusa/E Napa/X Nw Solano forecast zone

Winter Storm, X Se Shasta/X E Tehama/W Plumas T X Sw

When: January 4, 12:00 AM PST to 8:00 PM PST
Where: X Se Shasta/X E Tehama/W Plumas T X Sw forecast zone

Winter Storm, W Sierra T X W/C Nevada/C Placer/C El Dorado/E Amador/Ne Calaveras/C & Ne Tuolumne/Sw Alpine

When: January 4, 2:00 AM PST to 10:00 PM PST
Where: W Sierra T X W/C Nevada/C Placer/C El Dorado/E Amador/Ne Calaveras/C & Ne Tuolumne/Sw Alpine forecast zone

Winter Storm, P Sc Shasta/E Tehama T X E/X E Butte/X Sw Plumas

When: January 4, 4:00 AM PST to 8:00 PM PST
Where: P Sc Shasta/E Tehama T X E/X E Butte/X Sw Plumas forecast zone

Winter Storm, X W Sierra/Ne Yuba/W Nevada/W Placer T X W/W El Dorado/W Amador T X W/C Calaveras/Sw Tuolumne T X Sw

When: January 4, 6:00 AM PST to 10:00 PM PST
Where: X W Sierra/Ne Yuba/W Nevada/W Placer T X W/W El Dorado/W Amador T X W/C Calaveras/Sw Tuolumne T X Sw forecast zone

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history Warnings in California, January 1998

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5632672, 5633364, 5632670, 5633363, 5632674, 5632673, 5632671, 5632675.