California, 2001

Winter Storm in California, February 24 to 25, 2001

February 24 to 25, 2001 · NWS HNX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

5" water equivalent.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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.

Snow Reports: S.Sierra Nevada, Fishcamp 12" from 0600-1200, and Hume Lake 12" all in 12 hours; Tuolumne Meadows 16" and Ostander Lake 13"; Tulare County Mountains; Lodgepole 16", Quaking Aspen 20", and Wet Meadows 22", all in 12 hours; and, in the Kern Mountains; Alta Sierra 8" in 12 hours and the Kernville RAWS with 1.5" water equivalent.

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 24, 2:45 AM PST, 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 24, 2:45 AM PST, 45 minutes before
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
245 AM PST SAT FEB 24 2001

THINGS NOT TOO CLEAR CUT THIS MORNING AS FORECAST AREA COMES UNDER THE
INFLUENCE OF AN OVERRUNNING PRECIPITATION REGIME TODAY...AND A LOW
MOVING DOWN THE COAST TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS A
VERY LARGE AREA OF MOISTURE MOVING ONSHORE IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AND
MONTEREY RADAR SHOWS LOTS OF STRATIFORM RAIN.  A RATHER COMPLEX
SYNOPTIC SITUATION EXISTS OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC WITH A STRONG...
MOISTURE LADEN JET RUNNING ALONG 30N AND A DEVELOPING UPPER LOW AROUND
40/132. IN THE SHORT TERM...WILL OPT TO GO WITH CATEGORICAL POPS OVER
THE CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AS LIGHT RAIN FROM THE OVERRUNNING WILL
BEGIN THIS MORNING. QPF DOESNT APPEAR TOO HEAVY AND WILL WORD THE
FORECASTS AS LIGHT RAIN. AS THIS MOISTURE MOVES INTO THE SIERRA...
EXPECT SNOW ADVISORY CRITERIA TO BE MET AND WILL ISSUE FOR ZONES 96/97
ABOVE 5000 FEET. EMPHASIS SHIFTS TO THE SOUTHERN ZONES TONIGHT AND
SUNDAY AS UPPER LOW HEADS DOWN THE COAST AND ENCOUNTERS THE MOIST SUB
TROPICAL FEED. LOOKS LIKE QPF COULD BE HEAVY OVER PARTS OF THE KERN
MOUNTAINS AND EVEN IN THE DESERTS...HOWEVER DUE TO THE RATHER WARM
ORIGIN OF THE MOISTURE...SNOW LEVELS WILL REMAIN ABOVE 5000 FEET AND
POSSIBLY STAY NEAR 6000 FEET. WILL NEED TO ISSUE A WINTER STORM WATCH
FOR THE KERN MOUNTAINS ABOVE 6000 FEET. IN THE KERN DESERTS...WILL
UPGRADE TO LIKELY POPS BUT FEEL IT WILL DEFINITELY RAIN. LOOKS LIKE
THINGS START TO WIND DOWN LATER SUNDAY AS DYNAMICS CONTINUE TO SHIFT
SOUTH AS THE UPPER LOW HEADS SOUTH.

IN THE EXTENDED...UPPER LOW CONTINUES TO HEAD EAST ON MONDAY AND
TUESDAY WITH WEAK RIDGING PROGGED FOR MID WEEK. BY NEXT SATURDAY...MRF
SUGGESTS ANOTHER UPPER LOW TO APPROACH TO NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA COAST.
WILL OPT TO KEEP THINGS DRY.

.HNX...SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA TODAY THROUGH
TONIGHT.
     ...WINTER STORM WATCH FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS ABOVE 6000
FEET LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY.

DUDLEY

Event by event

3 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, S Sierra Mtns

When
February 24, 3:30 AM PST to February 25, 4:00 AM PST
Where
S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm, Tulare Cty Mtns

When
February 24, 3:30 AM PST to February 25, 4:00 AM PST
Where
Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Winter Storm, Kern Cty Mtns

When
February 24, 9:00 AM PST to February 25, 4:00 PM PST
Where
Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

What these are

Winter Storm
A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

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, 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: 5233151, 5233152, 5233153.