An inclement weather period for the higher terrain of Central California began on the 25th and extended to the 30th of the month. Mammoth Mountain in the high country of Madera County recorded a total of 34" of new snow over these 5 days.
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.
The episode as NWS HNX wrote it up.
An inclement weather period for the higher terrain of Central California began on the 25th and extended to the 30th of the month. Mammoth Mountain in the high country of Madera County recorded a total of 34" of new snow over these 5 days. Snow exceeding heavy snow criteria occurred in CA Zones 22, 23, and 24 around the 28th. At North Fork at the 2800-foot elevation in CA Zone 22, 5-6" of new snow fell in a 12 hour period before 10AM on the 28th.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Snow reports from spotters indicate that up to 14 inches of snow fell during the day 4 miles west of Tehachapi. Other reports to the southeast of Tehachapi showed 6" had fallen by 0930 AM.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in California, March 1998
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5637684.