A Winter Storm Warning for CAZ082 above 4500 feet was issued at 0420 PST on 3/4 and expired at 0400 PST on 3/5. The above reports verified the warning, which should have been issued for elevations above 4000 feet.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS MFR wrote it up.
A Winter Storm Warning for CAZ082 above 4500 feet was issued at 0420 PST on 3/4 and expired at 0400 PST on 3/5. The above reports verified the warning, which should have been issued for elevations above 4000 feet.
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 Medford, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 4, 2:30 PM PST, 15 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
230 PM PST SUN MAR 04 2001
12Z ETA/MESOETA/NGM/AVN IN.
THE UPPER TROUGH OFF THE WEST COAST WILL CONTINUE TO DIG IN RESPONSE
TO SHORT WAVES MOVING DOWN THE BACK SIDE OF THE TROUGH. IT WILL
EVENTUALLY SHEAR AND A CUTOFF LOW WILL DEVELOP OFF THE CALIFORNIA
COAST BY TUESDAY...FAR ENOUGH SOUTH TO LEAVE EXTREME NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA/SOUTHERN OREGON OUT OF THE ASSOCIATED PRECIPITATION.
THE UPSLOPE FLOW BRINGING THE HEAVY SNOW TO THE MT. SHASTA AREA AND
THE WINDS TO THE SHASTA VALLEY WILL DIMINISH LATE TONIGHT...SO EXPECT
THE WINTER STORM WARNING AND WIND ADVISORY TO EXPIRE THEN. THE
PRECIPITATION SHOULD CEASE OVER THE COAST AND WEST SIDE TONIGHT.
SOME PRECIPITATION WILL STRAGGLE INTO THE MORNING HOURS IN THE
MOUNTAINS AND DOWN SOUTH. ON THE EAST SIDE...SOME UPSLOPE
PRECIPITATION WILL DEVELOP TONIGHT AND INTO MONDAY MORNING...BUT THE
UPSLOPE FLOW LOOKS TO BE WEAK WITH A DRYING AIRMASS...SO WILL DROP
THE POPS TO THE CHANCE RANGE. MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY WILL BE DRY.
EXTENDED...ALL THE MEDIUM-RANGE MODELS ARE ADVERTISING A REX BLOCK
DEVELOPING TUESDAY NIGHT...WITH THE HIGH OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
AND THE LOW ANYWHERE FROM SOUTHERN NEVADA TO THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
COAST...DEPENDING ON THE MODEL. ALL THE SCENARIOS ARE DRY FOR THE
FORECAST AREA. THE MODELS DIVERGE AS TO WHEN THE BLOCK WILL BREAK
HOWEVER. THE MRF IS THE ODD MODEL OUT...BRINGING A STRONG SYSTEM TO
130W THURSDAY AND THEN DIVING IT DOWN SOUTH. THINK THAT THE BLOCK
WILL HOLD A BIT LONGER THAN THIS...SO THE MRF IS TOO STRONG WITH THIS
SYSTEM AND THE WEAKER UKMO/ECMWF SCENARIO IS PREFERRED. WILL KEEP
THE EXTENDED DRY THROUGH FRIDAY AND THEN BRING IN A CHANCE OF RAIN
FOR THE WEST SIDE AND MT.SHASTA REGION SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.
STOCKTON
.MFR...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY...FLORENCE OR TO PT ST GEORGE CA.
WINTER STORM WARNING...CAZ082 UNTIL LATE TONIGHT.
WIND ADVISORY...CAZ081 UNTIL LATE TONIGHT.
OTH EB 041/058 043/061 044 153100
4BK EB 043/061 045/063 046 154100
RBG EB 042/056 043/060 044 153000
MFR EB 038/060 040/064 042 154000
LMT EB 030/049 032/053 034 154400
LKV EB 028/047 030/051 032 153300
MHS WB 030/049 033/053 035 158600The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Spotter SY68 1.5 miles SW of Black Butte reported 6 inches of snow in 13 hours at 0837 PST, then reported 6 additional inches between 1000 PST and 1445 PST.
Spotter SY39 6 miles W of Black Butte at 4000 feet reported 6 inches of snow in the 12 hours ending at 1000 PST. Later in the day he reported 7 inches of snow fell between 0700 and 1600 PST and a 27 hour total of 13 inches.
A US Bureau of Reclamation snow measuring device at Sand Flat (6750 feet) reported 22 inches of snow between 1500 PST on 3/3 and 0100 PST on 3/5. The heaviest snow fell between 1000 PST and 2400 PST on 03/04.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in California, March 2001
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: 5234689, 5234690, 5234691.