Heavy Snow and High Wind in California, December 19 to 20, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow and High Wind in California, December 19 to 20, 2002
Start: 2002-12-19T02:00
End: 2002-12-20T10:00
Location: California

December 19 to 20, 2002 · NWS EKA · 5 events in 4 counties and zones

3 heavy snow, 2 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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.

Event by event

3 heavy snow, 2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, North Coast Interior

When: December 19, 2:00 AM PST to 9:30 AM PST
Where: North Coast Interior forecast zone
Measured: 69 kt (79 mph)
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

High Wind, Redwood Coast

When: December 19, 3:00 AM PST to 7:00 AM PST
Where: Redwood Coast forecast zone
Measured: 63 kt (72 mph)
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Heavy Snow, North Coast Interior

When: December 19, 8:00 AM PST to December 20, 10:00 AM PST
Where: North Coast Interior forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Snow depth - 8 inches

Heavy Snow, Upper Trinity River

When: December 19, 9:30 AM PST to December 20, 10:00 AM PST
Where: Upper Trinity River forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Snow depth - 12 inches

Heavy Snow, Mendocino Interior

When: December 19, 8:00 PM PST to December 20, 10:00 AM PST
Where: Mendocino Interior forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Snow depth - 12 inches

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
High Wind, Redwood Coast	2002-12-19	38	Male	Other	Direct

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in California, December 2002

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5326885, 5326884, 5326886, 5327220, 5327104.