California Department of Transportation reported heavy snow of 5 inches in 6 hours and 15 inches in 24 hours at Donner Summit.
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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 REV wrote it up.
California Department of Transportation reported heavy snow of 5 inches in 6 hours and 15 inches in 24 hours at Donner Summit.
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, 3:30 AM PST, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.
WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
330 AM PST SUN MAR 4 2001
UPPER LOW SPLITTING INTO TWO CENTERS OFF CA CST WITH NRN CA CENTER
OCCLUDING WHILE SRN CENTER BECOMING MORE ORGANIZED WITH NLY JET
INJECTING ADDITONAL COLD AIR AND ENERGY TO SYSTEM. 00Z MODELS FOCUS
MOST OMEGA AND QPF OVER SRN SIERRA TODAY IN NE QUAD OF UPPER LOW
FORMING OFF POINT CONCEPTION. WILL EXTEND W.S. WARNING OVER MONO
COUNTY INTO MONDAY NIGHT WHILE DOWNGRADING W.S. OVER TAHOE TO SNOW
ADVISORY TODAY AS SE FLOW PARALLEL TO SIERRA KEEPG OROGRAPHIC
COMPONENT TO MINIMUM WHILE DYNAMICS SLIP TO S. CHANCE POPS OVER WRN NV
N OF I80 TODAY AND TONIGHT WITH LIKELY POPS OVER SRN CWA. CATEGORICAL
POPS IN SIERRA FROM TAHOE S TODAY WITH SOME DECREASE IN ACTIVITY N OF
TAHOE THIS AFTERNOON. POPS DOWN A CATEGORY ON TUESDAY AS LOW MOVES
ACROSS SRN CA WITH WRAP AROUND MOISTURE MAINLY S OF I80. IN BETWEEN
SYSTEMS ON WED HOWEVER ENOUGH MOISTURE AND INSTABLITY TO KEEP IN A
SLIGHT CHC OF AFTN SHOWERS OVER W CENTRAL NV AND MONO COUNTY WITH LOW
LEVEL CONVERGENCE FORECAST INTO SFC TROUGH FROM ABOUT ELY TO WMC. NEXT
UPPER LOW DROPS S OFF NRN CA CST THU AND DRIFTS S INTO SRN CA ON SAT
FOR BROAD BRUSH CHC OF SHOWERS. COLDER AIR REMAINS OFF CST SO SHOULD
SEE RAIN IN VALLEYS AND SNOW IN HIGHER ELEVATIONS. LEAVE DRY FORECAST
FOR SUNDAY AS S/WV RIDGE MOVE OVER AREA FM N. CYLKE
.REV...SNOW ADVISORY ABOVE 6000 FEET CAZ071 AND CAZO72 TODAY...
.WINTER STORM WARNING MONO COUNTY CAZ73 ABOVE 6000 FEET THROUGH
MONDAY NIGHT.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
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: 5238842.