Several spotters reported heavy snow in a 15 hour period. Northern Sierra Valley had 12 inches at 4900 feet and Portola reported 12 inches at 4860 feet.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 REV wrote it up.
Several spotters reported heavy snow in a 15 hour period. Northern Sierra Valley had 12 inches at 4900 feet and Portola reported 12 inches at 4860 feet.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Reno, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 13, 2:30 PM PST, 4 hours 40 minutes earlier.
WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
230 PM PST THU DEC 13 2001
WILL BE UPGRADING MOST OF THE WATCHES TO WARNING ON THIS FORECATS
PACKAGE. ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION WOULD INDICATE HEAVY SNOW AND
STRONG WINDS IN THE SIERRA WITH GUSTY WINDS SPILLING OVER INTO THE
WESTERN VALLEYS TONIGHT. THE WINDS COMBINED WITH THE SNOWFALL WILL
ALSO CREATE LOCAL BLIZZARD CONDITIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS OVERNIGHT
TONIGHT. QPF FROM THE MODELS APPEARED A LITTLE LIGHT DUE TO THE
POSSIBLE ADDITION OF SOME CONVECTION CAUSED BY THE DYNAMICS OF THE
STORM. ALSO THERE IS SOME VERY COLD AIR BEHIND THIS SYSTEM WHICH
WILL MAKE THE WATER TO SNOW RATIO HIGHER THAN THE NORMAL 10-1.
EXTENDED...RIDGE OVER THE CENTRAL PACIFIC WEAKENS BY DAY 7 WHILE
STRONG JET REMAINS BETWEEN RIDGE AND GULF OF ALASKA LOW THROUGH THE
BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK. A SHORT WAVE MOVES INTO THE SIERRA MONDAY
SPREADING A CHANCE OF MOUNTAIN SNOW AND VALLEY RAIN SHOWERS TO AREAS
ACROSS NORTH OF THE RENO/TAHOE AREA. WINDS WILL BE GUSTY. SYSTEM
MOVES EAST TUESDAY AS A WEAK RIDGE BUILDS DEVELOPS WITH SOME
OVERRUNNING MID/HI CLOUDS. ANOTHER SHORT WAVE APPROACHES THE AREA
WEDNESDAY BUT IT APPEARS WEAKER AND FARTHER NORTH THAN THE MONDAY
SYSTEM. PARTLY CLOUDY MOST AREAS WEDNESDAY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW
SHOWERS ACROSS FAR NORTHERN AREAS. BY THURSDAY STRONG SURFACE HIGH
PRESSURE BUILDS INTO OREGON AND IDAHO BRINGING GUSTY NE WINDS TO THE
MOUNTAINS. WHILE THERE MAY BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF A SNOW SHOWER OVER
THE SIERRA CREST EXPECT HIGHER 500MB HEIGHTS AS THE EASTERN PACIFIC
RIDGE PUSHES EAST. THUS WILL KEEP THURSDAY DRY AND WINDY. IN GENERAL
TEMPERATURES WILL BE BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS THROUGH THE PERIOD.
.REV...WINTER STORM WARNING CAZ071 AND NVZ005 ABOVE 5000 FEET AND
ALL CAZ072-NVZ002 TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING.
WINTER STORM WARNING CAZ073 LATE TONIGHT AND FRIDAY
HIGH WIND WARNING CAZ070>O72-NVZ002-003-005 TONIGHT.
WIND ADVISORY NVZ001 TONIGHT.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 2001
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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5275737, 5275738.