California, 2001

Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in California, February 25 to 26, 2001

February 25 to 26, 2001 · NWS HNX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Another substantial snow event struck the Tehachapi Mountains of Kern County on the evening of the 25th with snow amounts of: Frazier Park 12-17" and the Tehachapi-Willow Springs Road out of Tehachapi Valley closed due to heavy snow. In the Tulare County Mountains snow amounts reported were Wet Meadows 8" and Beach Meadows 13" in 24 hours.

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.

Another substantial snow event struck the Tehachapi Mountains of Kern County on the evening of the 25th with snow amounts of: Frazier Park 12-17" and the Tehachapi-Willow Springs Road out of Tehachapi Valley closed due to heavy snow. In the Tulare County Mountains snow amounts reported were Wet Meadows 8" and Beach Meadows 13" in 24 hours.

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 25, 2:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 25, 2:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes before
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
230 PM PST SUN FEB 25 2001

UPPER LOW WAS MOVING SOUTH OFF THE NORCAL COASTLINE AT AROUND 10 KTS
THIS AFTERNOON. ASSOCIATED TROUGH CONTS TO DEEPEN OFFSHORE AND GOES
DATA SHOWS JET HAS DUG SOUTH TO NEAR 20N...WITH NEXT SHORTWAVE NEAR
30N/125W MOVING SE INTO TROUGH BASE. GIVEN MOVEMENT EVIDENT ON
SATELLITE...CONT TO FAVOR SLOWER/DEEPER AVN PROJECTIONS INDICATING
STRONGEST DYNAMICS TARGETING SOCAL DURING THE NEXT 36 HOURS WITH
DEEPEST UVM SHIFTING ONSHORE SOUTH OF THE CWA. ALTHOUGH DEEPENING
TROUGH HAS PULLED PLUME OF MOISTURE NORTHWARD ACROSS THE FA...AND
KEYX VWP SHOWS WINDS HAVE BACKED TO THE SE...WITH ONLY WEAK DYNAMICS
OVER THE DISTRICT BELIEVE QPF AMOUNTS OVER KERN MOUNTAINS WILL
REMAIN BELOW WARNING LEVELS AND WILL LOWER WARNING TO ADVISORY
STATUS. SHOWER ACTIVITY HAS BEEN SLOW TO DEVELOP OVER THE REGION
TODAY...HOWEVER WITH CONSIDERABLE PW PLUME OVER THE DISTRICT CANNOT
RULE OUT LIGHT SHOWERS WITH ANY EMBEDDED IMPULSE AND WILL KEEP LOW
POPS EVEN NORTH OF KERN COUNTY.

OTHERWISE...LITTLE CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS RUNS IS EVIDENT IN SUITE OF
PROGS WITH CONTD INDICATIONS OF VERY SLOW TROUGH PROGRESSION TO THE
SOUTH DURING THE NEXT 60 HOURS. SLOW DRYING SHOULD THEREFORE OCCUR
FROM THE NORTH AS WRAP-AROUND MOISTURE IS PULLED SOUTH OF THE
DISTRICT. TRACK OF TROUGH/WAVES SHOULD ALSO CARRY COLDER AIR INLAND
SOUTH OF THE CWA WITH LOWER SNOW LEVELS OVER KERN MTNS RATHER THAN THE
SOUTHERN SIERRA.

12Z AVN SHOWS A BACK-DOOR TROUGH CLOSING OFF OVER THE GREAT BASIN
WED...HOWEVER CANADIAN/ECM PROGS AREN/T AS IMPRESSIVE AND WILL CONT
TO KEEP CWA DRY AT THIS TIME. ALTHOUGH MRF HAS DELAYED PROJECTED
ARRIVAL OF NEXT TROUGH ON SAT...OTHER MEDIUM RANGE MODELS INDICATE
HEIGHTS REMAINING SUPPRESSED OVER THE ERN PAC FRI-SUN AND WILL
MAINTAIN CHANCE POPS FOR NEXT WEEKEND.

.HNX...SNOW ADVISORY TONIGHT AND MONDAY FOR THE KERN COUNTY
       MOUNTAINS.

JSN

Event by event

1 winter storm, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Kern Cty Mtns

When
February 25, 6:00 PM PST to February 26, 8:00 PM PST
Where
Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Tulare Cty Mtns

When
February 25, 11:30 PM PST to February 26, 8:00 PM PST
Where
Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

Winter Storm
A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
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, 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: 5233154, 5233155.