Heavy Snow in California, March 4 to 5, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in California, March 4 to 5, 2001
Start: 2001-03-04T17:45
End: 2001-03-05T05:45
Location: California

March 4 to 5, 2001 · NWS REV · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Spotter in the Mammoth Lakes area reported 18 inches in 12 hours and a storm total of 31 inches at 8000 feet.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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: 1

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 REV wrote it up.

Spotter in the Mammoth Lakes area reported 18 inches in 12 hours and a storm total of 31 inches at 8000 feet.

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 Reno, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 4, 2:10 PM PST, 3 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 4, 2:10 PM PST, 3 hours 35 minutes before

WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
210 PM PST SUN MAR 4 2001

SURFACE AND UPPER LOW OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST WILL CONTINUE TO CAUSE
HEAVY SNOWFALL OVER MUCH OF THE SIERRA THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. THE
SURFACE LOW WILL REDEVELOP OFF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST LATE
MONDAY INTO TUESDAY. THIS WILL SHIFT THE HEAVY PRECIPITATION TO THE
SOUTH. HOW FAR SOUTH IS THE QUESTION. IT APPEARS FAR ENUFF SOUTH TO
TAPER OFF ANY HEAVIER PRECIPITATION FROM TAHOE ON NORTHWARD TO
SCATTERED SHOWERS BY MONDAY AFTERNOON. STRONG 700MB WINDS WILL CAUSE
SOME GUSTY SOUTHERLY TO SOUTHEAST SURFACE WINDS INTO THE EVENING
HOURS. DONT BELIEVE SURFACE WINDS WILL STRONG ENUFF OR THAT WIDESPREAD
TO WARRANT A WIND ADVISORY AT THIS TIME. UPPER LOW CONTINUES TO WOBBLE
OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST BEFORE EJECTING EASTWARD TUESDAY INTO
WEDNESDAY. MEDIUM RANGE PROGS CONTINUE TO SHOW ANOTHER SYSTEM DROPPING
SOUTHWARD AT 130W OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY BEFORE
MOVING EASTWARD. WILL KEEP MENTION OF A CHANCE OF SHOWERS FRIDAY INTO
SATURDAY BEFORE DRYING RETURNS ON SUNDAY WITH NEAR NORMAL
TEMPERATURES. ADAMS

.REV...WINTER STORM WARNING 71 ABOVE 5500 FEET TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY
       MORNING.
       WINTER STORM WARNING 72 AND 73 ABOVE 6000 FEET TONIGHT THROUGH
       MONDAY MORNING.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Mono

When: March 4, 5:45 PM PST to March 5, 5:45 AM PST
Where: Mono forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 37.939, -118.887 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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, March 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: 5238841.