1 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 Apr 4, 3:29 AM PST, 2 hours 31 minutes earlier.
WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
250 AM PST FRI APR 4 2003
SMALL BUT POTENT SHORTWAVE WITH JET MAXIMUM IS MOVING ONSHORE
BETWEEN EUREKA AND SAN FRANCISCO. WIDESPREAD PRECIP HAS SPREAD
ACROSS NORTHERN CA WITH RADAR INDICATING SHARP MOISTURE CUTOFF AT
THE CREST...BUT SOME LIGHT SNOW HAS BEEN REPORTED AT TRUCKEE. IN
RESPONSE TO THIS MOISTURE CUTOFF...LEE SIDE WINDS HAVE INCREASED
WITH 40-50 MPH GUSTS IN THE USUAL WIND PRONE LOCATIONS. AS JET MOVES
FARTHER INLAND AND TAKES A TRACK JUST SOUTH OF LAKE TAHOE...ENHANCED
UPWARD MOTION IN ITS LEFT EXIT QUADRANT SHOULD LEAD TO RAPID
DEVELOPMENT EAST OF THE CREST DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS. QPF VALUES
ARE NOT VERY LARGE BUT BASED ON THE PREVIOUS SYSTEM...IT ONLY TOOK
ABOUT 0.04 INCH OF LIQUID PRECIP TO PRODUCE 1 INCH OF SNOW. LOW END
OF WARNING CRITERIA SHOULD STILL BE MET IN THE SIERRA ZONES AND SOME
OF THE NORTHEAST CA VALLEYS COULD ALSO GET 4 INCHES OF SNOW TODAY.
BY THIS AFTERNOON THE JET DYNAMICS WEAKEN BUT THE COLD UPPER LOW
CORE IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN NV. AIR MASS DESTABILIZES
ALONG AND NEAR THE PATH OF THIS LOW. CONVECTIVE TEMPS ON THE ETA
BUFKIT SOUNDINGS ARE ONLY IN THE 30S OVER MOST AREAS WHILE THE
LIFTED INDEX DROPS BELOW ZERO NORTH OF PYRAMID LAKE. THERE MAY BE
ISOLATED THUNDER WITH HEAVY SHOWERS OF SNOW PELLETS IN AREAS NORTH
OF A GERLACH TO LOVELOCK LINE THIS AFTERNOON. CONVECTIVE SHOWERS MAY
ALSO PRODUCE LOCALLY INTENSE SNOWFALL RATES FOR SHORT TIME PERIODS.
THE PREVIOUS SYSTEM PRODUCED 3-6 INCHES AROUND RENO AND PORTIONS OF
EASTERN CA...AND THIS SYSTEM COULD HAVE PRODUCED SIMILAR AMOUNTS IF
IT PASSED THROUGH AFTER SUNSET. HOWEVER...WITH SNOW MAINLY OCCURRING
IN THE DAYTIME THOSE ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE MORE DIFFICULT TO
ACHIEVE. SINCE THIS SCENARIO SETS UP FOR POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS
DRIVING CONDITIONS DUE TO CHANGING VISIBILITIES...A SNOW ADVISORY
WILL BE ISSUED TODAY FOR THE RENO AND NORTHERN WASHOE ZONES.
SOME SNOW SHOWERS MAY HANG ON THIS EVENING FOLLOWED BY DRYING
OVERNIGHT. LINGERING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE ON SATURDAY MAY PRODUCE
ISOLATED NON-ACCUMULATING SNOW SHOWERS BUT MOST AREAS WILL REMAIN
DRY WITH RAPID SNOW MELT IN THE VALLEYS.
ANOTHER SHORTWAVE PASSES ACROSS THE NORTHWEST US ON SUNDAY. ONLY THE
LATEST GFS AND A HANDFUL OF THE 12Z ENSEMBLE MEMBERS PRODUCED SOME
PRECIP INTO NORTHERN NV. THIS SYSTEM DID NOT EVEN SHOW UP ON
PREVIOUS RUNS SO THIS MAY BE A TREND TOWARD A MORE SOUTHERN TRACK.
20-30 PERCENT POPS WILL BE ADDED TO THE NORTHERN THIRD WITH THIS
PACKAGE WITH PRECIP STILL IN THE FORM OF SNOW. MJD
IN THE EXTENDED...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...
A RIDGE BUILDS IN FROM THE WEST ON MONDAY AND STAYS IN THE AREA
TUESDAY BRINGING DRY WEATHER AND A WARMING TREND. A RELATIVELY WEEK
TROUGH MOVES IN FROM THE PACIFIC ON WEDNESDAY FOR A CHANCE TO SLIGHT
CHANCE OF SHOWERS...MAINLY IN OUR CALIF ZONES. COREY
.REV...WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY...CAZ071>073-NVZ002
SNOW ADVISORY TODAY NVZ003-005-CAZ070CAZ070>073-NVZ001>005-051500- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV 600 AM PST FRI APR 4 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NEVADA...THE EASTERN SIERRA AND NORTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA. ...WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY FOR EASTERN CALIFORNIA... ...SNOW ADVISORY TODAY FOR NORTHWEST AND FAR WESTERN NEVADA... .DAY ONE...TODAY... STEADY MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW OVER THE SIERRA WILL TAPER OFF FROM NORTH TO SOUTH THIS MORNING WITH AREAS OF LIGHT SNOW SPILLING INTO THE VALLEYS OF NORTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND FAR WESTERN NEVADA. SNOW SHOWERS WILL REDEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON WITH BURSTS OF HEAVY SNOW PRODUCING RAPID ACCUMULATIONS IN SOME LOCATIONS WITHIN THE WARNING AND ADVISORY AREAS. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE IN NORTHWEST NEVADA THIS AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN RENO. MJD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Alpine Meadows ski area reported 18 inches of new snow at the 8600 foot elevation.
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5353446.