CALTRANS reported a storm total of 21 inches in 24 hours at 6100 feet.
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.
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.
CALTRANS reported a storm total of 21 inches in 24 hours at 6100 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 Reno, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 6, 3:30 PM PST, 30 minutes earlier.
WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
330 PM PST WED MAR 6 2002
JET MAX MOVG INTO SRN CA THIS AFTN ENHANCING PCPN OVER SIERRA AND
CONVECTIVE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL VALLEY. SNOW
RATES OF 1-2 INCHES PER HOUR IN THE SIERRA BEGAN AROUND MIDDAY AND
WILL CONTINUE MUCH OF EVENING BEFORE TAPERING OFF LATE TONIGHT.
ANOTHER INCREASE IN PCPN EXPECTED BY MIDDAY THURSDAY WITH COLD FRONT
DROPPING SOUTH ACROSS AREA. WINTER STORM WARNING CONTINUE FOR SIERRA
ZONES WITH 2-3 FOOT STORM TOTALS EXPECTED BY THURSDAY EVENING ABOVE
7000 FEET ALONG SIERRA CREST AND WEST. STRONG SW WINDS TONIGHT AND
EARLY THURSDAY SHIFTING TO W-NW BEHIND FRONT ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON.
HAVE OPTED TO GO WITH WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW AND BLOWING
SNOW IN LOWER ELEVATIONS OF NRN CWA TROUGH NOW APPROACHING 130W
SOUTH OF 40N WILL MOVE INTO THIS AREA THIS EVENING. PCPN ENDING
ABRUPTLY THURSDAY EVENING WITH DRY WEATHER FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY
UNDER HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE.
IN THE EXTENDED...NEXT SHORTWAVE MOVES INTO FORECAST AREA ON SUNDAY.
THE MRF AND AVN SOLUTIONS ARE MORE AMPLIFIED WHILE CANADIAN AND
NOGAPS SHOW A WEAKER BROADER TROUGH. THE ECMWF STILL POINTING TOWARD
THIS SYSTEM SPLITTING WITH THE MAIN ENERGY DEVELOPING A STRONG UPPER
LOW ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST US. THOUGH DIFFERENCES STILL EXIST...THE
MRF AND AVN SHOWING STRONG RUN TO RUN CONSISTENCY. THE MRF BRINGS
ANOTHER SHORTWAVE INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST ON TUESDAY. BY
WEDNESDAY...A GENERAL NORTHWEST FLOW WILL KEEP SOME CLOUDINESS
MOVING ACROSS THE AREA. BUT WITH NO REAL DYNAMICS AND HIGHER
HEIGHTS...WILL KEEP THE FORECAST DRY. CYLKE/ADAMS
.REV...WINTER STORM WARNING ZONE 2/72 TONIGHT AND THURSDAY .
WINTER STORM WARNING ZONE 71 ABOVE 5500 FEET
TONIGHT AND THURSDAY
WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE SIERRA PORTION OF ZONE
73 ABOVE 7000 FEET TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ZONE 5/70
AND 71 ABOVE 4500 FEET TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ZONE 3
ABOVE 5000 FEET TONIGHT AND THURSDAYThe 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 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, March 2002
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: 5286134.