California, 2001

Heavy Snow in California, December 4 to 5, 2001

December 4 to 5, 2001 · NWS REV · 1 event in 1 county or zone

California Department of Transportation reported 14 inches of snow in 24 hours at 6118 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

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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.

California Department of Transportation reported 14 inches of snow in 24 hours at 6118 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 4, 3:03 PM PST, 6 hours 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 4, 3:03 PM PST, 6 hours 17 minutes before
CLOUDS AND WINDS INCREASING AHEAD OF SHORT WAVE APPROACHING 130W.
MODELS DROP THIS FEATURE INTO THE PACIFIC NW TONIGHT AND IT MOVES
RAPIDLY INTO MONTANA BY TOMORROW PM.  GRADIENTS TIGHTEN AS LF QUAD
OF 130KT JET MOVES OVER THE NORTHERN SIERRA AND NW NEVADA
OVERNIGHT.  OROGRAPHICS THE BIG WILD CARD WITH THIS EVENT.  ETA
BULLISH ON QPF GENERATING OVER AN INCH IN THE SIERRA WHILE AVN SEEMS
MORE REASONABLE.  W-NW FLOW NOT AS FAVORABLE THUS CATEGORICAL POPS
WITH ACCUMULATIONS BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA THE WAY TO GO WITH FAST
MOVING SYSTEM FOR THE NORTHERN SIERRA.  SNOW WILL SPILL OVER INTO
WESTERN VALLEYS BUT DROP OFF RAPIDLY EAST OF THE SIERRA AND SOUTH OF
TAHOE TONIGHT.  WEDNESDAY INTO FRIDAY EASTERN PACIFIC RIDGE BUILDS
EAST INTO NEVADA.  A SECOND SHORT WAVE MOVES BY TO THE NORTH OF OUR
AREA WEDNESDAY NIGHT.  MODELS HAVE A MODERATE AMOUNT OF WARM AIR
ADVECTION AHEAD OF THIS FEATURE SO THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF SNOW
SHOWERS WEDNESDAY INTO THE EVENING BEFORE PARTIAL CLEARING
OVERNIGHT.  THURSDAY AND FRIDAY A SURFACE HIGH BUILDS INTO OREGON.
SUNNY SKIES WITH GUSTY NE WINDS OVER THE RIDGES EXPECTED BOTH DAYS.
TEMPERATURES SHOULD WARM TO JUST ABOVE SEASONAL NORMALS BY THE
END OF THE WEEK.

EXTENDED...UPPER LEVEL RIDGING WILL KEEP W NV AND NE CA DRY FRI
BEFORE A FAIRLY STRONG SPLITTING PAC NW TROUGH MAKES LAND FALL DURING
THE WEEKEND. MODELS DIFFER ON TIMING OF SYSTEM AS WRNOGAPS AND CAN
BRING TROUGH AXIS THROUGH SUN MORNING WHILE MRF AND ECMWF A BIT
SLOWER. CURRENTLY LEANING TOWARD THE SLOWER SOLUTION WHICH FOLLOWS
PREVIOUS PACKAGE. RIDGING BEHIND SYSTEM TUESDAY IS EXPECTED TO
PROVIDE DRY CONDITIONS.

SG/RM

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 4, 9:20 PM PST to December 5, 9:20 PM PST
Where
E Nevada/E Placer/E El Dorado/Ne Alpine forecast zone
Reported by
DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
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: 5275745.