Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in California, February 11 to 14, 2001

Name: Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in California, February 11 to 14, 2001
Start: 2001-02-11T06:00
End: 2001-02-14T03:00
Location: California

February 11 to 14, 2001 · NWS LOX · 16 events in 16 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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: 16

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 LOX wrote it up.

A powerful Pacific storm brought heavy rain, heavy snow and gusty winds to Central and Southern California. Overall, 2 to 8 inches of rain fell across the area, producing numerous reports of urban flooding. With the storm, snow levels fell to around 1500 feet in some areas. Ski resorts reported between 3 to 7 feet of new snowfall. With such low snow levels, the Cuyama and Antelope Valleys reported between 4 to 8 inches of snowfall. Along with the precipitation, gusty south winds of 40 to 60 mph developed in the mountains. Across coastal and valley areas of Ventura and Los Angeles counties, southeast winds of 30 to 50 mph developed and produced some damage. The worst wind damage was in San Pedro Harbor where several docks were damaged and even one boat was sunk.

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 Los Angeles, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 11, 3:15 AM PST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 11, 3:15 AM PST, 2 hours 45 minutes before

SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA
315 AM PST SUN FEB 11 2001

UPPER LOW OFF THE OR COAST THIS MORNING IS FORECAST TO MOVE SLOWLY DOWN
THE W COAST THRU MON. MOISTURE OUT AHEAD OF THE MAIN PACIFIC FRONT WAS
PUSHING INTO THE DISTRICT THIS MORNING BY WAY OF SCATTERED
SHOWERS...MOST NOTABLY OVER SLO/SBA COUNTIES...WITH A FEW OVER VTU
COUNTY. MORE STEADIER RAINS WERE MOVING INTO MONTEREY COUNTY AND WILL
SLIDE SOUTHWARD AS THE DAY PROGRESSES. SNOW LEVELS AROUND 3000 TO 4000
FEET THIS MORNING WILL REMAIN FAIRLY STEADY OVER SLO/SBA COUNTIES...BUT
SHOULD RISE SLOWLY OVER VTU/LAX COUNTIES. EARLIER THINKING OF LOWERING
SNOW LEVELS OVER VTU/LAX COUNTIES TONIGHT AND MONDAY HAS BEEN
REVERSED...AS MODELS KEEP SOUTHERLY FLOW OVER THE REGION THROUGH
MON...ESPECIALLY THE MESO-ETA. AS A RESULT...IT APPEARS SNOW LEVELS
SHOULD RISE SLIGHTLY MON TO 4500 FEET OVER THE LAX COUNTY MOUNTAINS.
OVER SLO/SBA COUNTIES...SNOW LEVELS SHOULD LOWER MON AS THESE AREAS
CLOSER TO THE UPPER LOW.

STILL LOOKS LIKE A SIGNIFICANT PRECIP EVENT TAKING SHAPE OVER THE
DISTRICT TODAY THROUGH MON...WITH GENERALLY 1 TO 2 INCHES FOR COAST
AND VALLEY AREAS...AND 2 TO 4 INCHES IN THE MOUNTAINS NOT OUT OF THE
QUESTION. MOST SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL SHOULD OCCUR ABOVE 4000 FEET WITH
UP TO 20 INCHES POSSIBLE AT RESORT LEVELS IN VTU/LAX COUNTY MOUNTAINS.
THERE ARE MODEL DIFFERENCES IN SPEED OF THE SYSTEM. MESO-ETA SLOWEST
FOR LAX COUNTY WITH RAIN MOVING IN THERE LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT.
MESO-ETA PUSHES UPPER LOW OFF THE SW CA COAST LATER MON AND MON
NITE...WHILE AVN MOVES THE UPPER LOW JUST INLAND OVER CENTRAL CA.
WITH THE MOVEMENT ON THE MESO-ETA...THE PACIFIC FRONT BECOMES NEARLY
STATIONARY OVER EASTERN LAX COUNTY INTO ORANGE COUNTY LATER MON AND MON
NITE...WITH A STEADY STREAM OF MOISTURE AND RAINFALL OVER THIS AREA.
IF THIS TAKES PLACE...THERE COULD BE SOME FLOODING CONCERNS. LATER
SHIFTS NEED TO MONITOR THIS SITUATION CLOSELY.

WINTER STORM WARNINGS/WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES CONTINUE FOR THE
MOUNTAINS. SEE LAXWSWLAX FOR ALL THE INFO ON THIS.

IN THE EXTENDED...THE UPPER LOW MEANDERS NEAR OR OVER THE DISTRICT
TUE THROUGH WED AFTERNOON...THEN FINALLY MOVES EAST WED NITE AND THU.
MORE SHOWERS WITH POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED TUE AND WED.
SNOW LEVELS COULD GET VERY LOW DOWN TO 2000 FEET OR LOWER. FAIR WEATHER
RETURNS TO THE DISTRICT THURSDAY WITH TEMPS WARMING UP SOMEWHAT...BUT
REMAINING BELOW NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR.

LAX 798. SIRARD

.LAX...WINTER STORM WARNING/WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY (SEE LAXWSWLAX).
       HEAVY SURF ADVISORY (SEE LAXMWSLAX).
       SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY (SEE LAXCWFLAX).

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 high wind, 4 winter storm, 4 heavy rain, 2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, N Los Angeles T X N

When: February 11, 6:00 AM PST to February 14, 3:00 AM PST
Where: N Los Angeles T X N forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm, N Ventura

When: February 11, 6:00 AM PST to February 14, 3:00 AM PST
Where: N Ventura forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm, P C Santa Barbara

When: February 11, 6:00 AM PST to February 14, 3:00 AM PST
Where: P C Santa Barbara forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm, Sc San Luis Obispo

When: February 11, 6:00 AM PST to February 14, 3:00 AM PST
Where: Sc San Luis Obispo forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Rain, Los Angeles

When: February 11, 6:00 AM PST to February 13, 10:00 PM PST
Where: Los Angeles County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 34.198, -118.261 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, San Luis Obispo

When: February 11, 6:00 AM PST to February 13, 10:00 PM PST
Where: San Luis Obispo County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 35.387, -120.452 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Santa Barbara

When: February 11, 6:00 AM PST to February 13, 10:00 PM PST
Where: Santa Barbara County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 34.538, -120.031 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Ventura

When: February 11, 6:00 AM PST to February 13, 10:00 PM PST
Where: Ventura County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 34.358, -119.126 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, X Se Los Angeles

When: February 13, 1:00 AM PST to 9:00 AM PST
Where: X Se Los Angeles forecast zone
Measured: 45 kt (52 mph)
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

High Wind, C Los Angeles

When: February 13, 1:00 AM PST to 9:00 AM PST
Where: C Los Angeles forecast zone
Measured: 45 kt (52 mph)
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

High Wind, X Sw Los Angeles

When: February 13, 1:00 AM PST to 9:00 AM PST
Where: X Sw Los Angeles forecast zone
Measured: 45 kt (52 mph)
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Heavy Snow, X N Santa Barbara

When: February 13, 2:00 AM PST to 2:00 PM PST
Where: X N Santa Barbara forecast zone
Reported by: FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates: 34.538, -120.031 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, X N Los Angeles

When: February 13, 2:00 AM PST to 10:00 AM PST
Where: X N Los Angeles forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

High Wind, S Ventura T X S

When: February 13, 3:00 AM PST to 9:00 AM PST
Where: S Ventura T X S forecast zone
Measured: 45 kt (52 mph)
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

High Wind, C Ventura

When: February 13, 3:00 AM PST to 9:00 AM PST
Where: C Ventura forecast zone
Measured: 45 kt (52 mph)
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

High Wind, X S Ventura

When: February 13, 3:00 AM PST to 9:00 AM PST
Where: X S Ventura forecast zone
Measured: 45 kt (52 mph)
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
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

Every storm in California in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in California, February 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: 5230302, 5230417, 5230418, 5230419, 5230422, 5230423, 5230424, 5230425, 5230426, 5230427, 5230428, 5230420, 5230421, 5230429, 5230430, 5230431.