California, 2001

Heavy Snow in California, December 20 to 21, 2001

December 20 to 21, 2001 · NWS REV · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Kirkwood Ski Area reported 24 inches of snow in 24 hours at 7600 feet.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 REV wrote it up.

Kirkwood Ski Area reported 24 inches of snow in 24 hours at 7600 feet.

What forecasters said that day

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 20, 3:00 AM PST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 20, 3:00 AM PST, 1 hour 50 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, E Nevada/E Placer/E El Dorado/Ne Alpine

When
December 20, 4:50 AM PST to December 21, 4:50 AM PST
Where
E Nevada/E Placer/E El Dorado/Ne Alpine forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
38.935, -120.458 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 2001

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: 5275792.