A Winter Storm Warning was issued for California zone CAZ082 above 4000 feet at 1515 PDT on 04/28. The elevation of the warning was raised to 5000 feet at 0500 PDT on 04/29, lowered again to 4000 feet at 1025 PDT on 04/29, and the warning expired at 1410 PDT on 04/29.
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 MFR wrote it up.
A Winter Storm Warning was issued for California zone CAZ082 above 4000 feet at 1515 PDT on 04/28. The elevation of the warning was raised to 5000 feet at 0500 PDT on 04/29, lowered again to 4000 feet at 1025 PDT on 04/29, and the warning expired at 1410 PDT on 04/29. Nearly all the spotters and observation platforms are below the warning elevation, so no verifying reports were received from those sources. However, Sand Flat at 6750 feet recorded 9.5 inches of snow in the 24 hours ending at 09Z on 04/29. This is a half inch shy of meeting Heavy Snow Warning criteria. In addition, Mount Shasta City, below the warning level, recieved a 0.89 inches of rain in the 24 hours ending at 2000 PDT on 04/29. This appears to have been a borderline event. Some locations likely did get enough snow to verify the warning.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
See below.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in California, April 2003
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: 5348509.