California, 2002

Heavy Snow in California, January 26 to 27, 2002

January 26 to 27, 2002 · NWS EKA · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Four to seven inches of snow fell above 500 feet elevation with lesser accumulations down to sea level.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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 EKA wrote it up.

Four to seven inches of snow fell above 500 feet elevation with lesser accumulations down to sea level.

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 Eureka, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 26, 2:40 PM PST, 6 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 26, 2:40 PM PST, 6 hours 20 minutes before
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Event by event

3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Redwood Coast

When
January 26, 9:00 PM PST to January 27, 8:15 AM PST
Where
Redwood Coast forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Mendocino Coast

When
January 26, 9:00 PM PST to January 27, 8:15 AM PST
Where
Mendocino Coast forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Mendocino Interior

When
January 26, 9:00 PM PST to January 27, 8:15 AM PST
Where
Mendocino Interior forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

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

More

Every storm in California in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5279624, 5279625, 5279626.