Heavy Snow in California, February 18, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in California, February 18, 2001
Start: 2001-02-18T04:00
End: 2001-02-18T09:00
Location: California

February 18, 2001 · NWS HNX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

) and Big Meadows in the Tulare County Mountains (7600 ft).

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 HNX wrote it up.

Snowfall amounts of 7" at Upper Burnt Corral in the S.Sierra Nevada (9700 feet M.S.L.) and Big Meadows in the Tulare County Mountains (7600 ft).

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 Hanford, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 18, 3:30 AM PST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 18, 3:30 AM PST, 30 minutes before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
330 AM PST SUN FEB 18 2001

SINCE 00Z UPPER AND SFC TROUGHS HAVE GREATLY WEAKENED ON MOVING
INLAND WITH VERY LITTLE PRECIP IN CWA. JUST A SMATTERING OF LIGHT
SHOWERS ARE LINGERING EARLY THIS MORNING ON AREA 88D RADARS...THUS
HAVE CUT BACK CONSIDERABLY ON POPS TODAY. CLOUD COVER OVERNIGHT HAS
RESULTED IN VERY MILD MIN TEMPS...AND AS WE START OFF WARMER WILL
SEE MAX TEMPS GENERALLY HIGHER THAN PREVIOUS PROJECTIONS. OTHERWISE
EXPECT A SHORT BREAK FROM PCPN OVER REMAINDER OF TODAY AND THIS
EVENING UNDER THE NEARLY FLAT UPPER FLOW.

NEXT SYSTEM REMAINS MORE PROMISING FOR PRECIP ON MONDAY...WITH A
PERIOD OF FAVORABLE UPPER DIFFLUENCE OVER NORTH SECTIONS AND DEEPER
MOIST SYNOPTIC LIFT. MODELS HAVE TRENDED SLOWER ON TIMING SO HAVE
MADE SOME ADJUSTMENTS TO TIMING AND POPS FOR LATE SUN NIGHT. THIS NO
SURPISE GIVEN SSW FLOW OVER CA MON NITE. ALTHOUGH ETA/AVN NOT FAR FROM
EACH OTHER USED COMPROMISE SOLUTION. CURRENT WINTER STORM WATCH IS
ON TRACK. BEYOND THE PRECIP ETA INDICATES ANOTHER ROUND OF STRONGER
PRES GRADS AND GUSTY S/SE WINDS...TIGHTEST NEAR 12-18Z PERIOD MON.

SECONDARY SHORT WAVE ENERGY ARRIVES ABOUT 12Z TUE AND SUPPORTS
CONTINUED CHANCES FOR SHOWERS MON NITE THRU ABOUT NOON TUES. THEN
ANOTHER BRIEF RESPITE FOR REMAINDER TUE AND WED BEFORE NEXT STORM
SYSTEM IN THE SERIES ARRIVES THU/FRI.

.HNX...WINTER STORM WATCH MONDAY FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA.

LAVIS

Event by event

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, S Sierra Mtns

When: February 18, 4:00 AM PST to 9:00 AM PST
Where: S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heavy Snow, Tulare Cty Mtns

When: February 18, 4:00 AM PST to 9:00 AM PST
Where: Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

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

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: 5233146, 5233147.