Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in California, December 24 to 26, 2003

Name: Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in California, December 24 to 26, 2003
Start: 2003-12-24T07:00
End: 2003-12-26T04:00
Location: California

December 24 to 26, 2003 · NWS HNX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

) in the Tulare County Foothills and Kern County Mountains. In the 4-hour time period from 0000 PST to 0400 PST on the 26th 8" of new snow fell in the Tulare County Mountains.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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 HNX wrote it up.

A significant winter weather event on Christmas brought large amounts of snow to the higher elevations of the Southern Sierra Nevada (24" at Lodgepole, 33" at Crabtree Meadow and Chagoopa Plateau, and 39" at Agnew Pass) while significant snow fell at lower elevations (4" snowfall down to 2700 feet M.S.L.) in the Tulare County Foothills and Kern County Mountains. In the 4-hour time period from 0000 PST to 0400 PST on the 26th 8" of new snow fell in the Tulare County Mountains. Highway 58 was closed for a time and traffic over Interstate-5 was escorted as snow fell on those heavily traveled routes through the Tehachapi Mountains. Precipitation totals at higher elevations (water equivalent) were 7.30" at Lodgepole (Tulare County), 5.20" at Giant Forest (Tulare), 4.89" at Mammoth Pass (Madera), 4.23" at Pascoes (Tulare), 3.74" at Wishon (Fresno), and 3.60" at Yosemite (Mariposa).

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 Hanford, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 24, 3:00 AM PST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 24, 3:00 AM PST, 4 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
300 AM PST WED DEC 24 2003

.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...TEMPORARY LULL
IN RN/SN THIS MORNING AS WAA PRECIP REMAINS OVER NORCAL. ETA/GFS ARE
VERY SIMILAR SHOWING REGION OF ISENTROPIC LIFT SAGGING SOUTH ACROSS
MUCH OF THE CWA THRU THE AFTERNOON. SAID PROGS HAVE PERFORMED VERY
WELL DURG LAST SEVERAL WAA EPISODES...AND HAVE MADE UPWARD
ADJUSTMENTS IN POPS FOR TODAY.

MOIST QUASI-ZONAL FLOW HAS BECOME ESTABLISHED OVER THE EPAC WITH
GOES DATA SHOWING SLIGHT ANTICYCLONIC CURVATURE TO 140 KT JET NOSING
INSIDE 130W. DIGGING SHORTWAVE TROUGH WAS ALSO EVIDENT NEAR 42N/154W
...AND ETA/GFS APPEAR REASONABLE PROJECTING WAVE AMPLIFYING AS IT
APPROACHES JET AND MOVES EAST DURING THE NEXT 24-36 HOURS. OTHER
WAVES EMBEDDED IN FLOW WERE ALSO EVIDENT AT 09Z...AND TIMING
MOVEMENT AND AMOUNT OF STRENGTHENING WILL REMAIN A CHALLENGE.
HOWEVER GIVEN CURRENT STRENGTH OF 42N/154W SHORTWAVE AND EPAC JET...
WILL LEAN TOWARD STRONGER/SLOWER GFS SOLUTION OF WAVE NOT MOVING
ONSHORE UNTIL EARLY THURS EVENING. SUCH TIMING WOULD DELAY THE
ARRIVAL OF COLDER AIR APPROX 6 HOURS BEHIND ETA PROGS...AND HAVE
MADE SLIGHT UPWARD ADJUSTMENTS IN SNOW LEVELS MORE IN LINE WITH GFS
H7 TEMPS/THICKNESSES. NEVERTHELESS...MOIST JET WILL PROVIDE STRONG
OROGRAPHICS OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA AND WINTER STORM WARNINGS
REMAIN WARRANTED FOR THIS AFTERNOON THRU CHRISTMAS DAY. SOME
EXTENSION INTO EARLY THURS EVENING MAY BE REQUIRED WITH SLOWER
TIMING...HOWEVER GIVEN AFOREMENTIONED UNCERTAINTIES WILL NOT EXTEND
AT THIS TIME. WAVES EMBEDDED IN MOIST FLOW WILL ALSO GENERATE PRECIP
ACROSS MUCH OF THE CWA...AND MODERATE TO HIGH POPS FOR TONIGHT/THURS
REMAIN ON TRACK.

TROUGH AXIS IS PROGGED TO SHIFT EAST OF THE CWA BY 12Z FRI...HOWEVER
NW FLOW SHOULD COMBINE WITH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE THURS NGT FOR HIEST
POPS TO SHIFT SOUTH INTO THE KERN MTNS. ALTHOUGH A DRIER FLOW WILL
BECOME ESTABLISHED IN THE WAKE OF TROUGH ON FRI...WILL MAINTAIN LOW
POPS IN ALL ZONES IN THE EVENT THAT WAVE PROGRESSES SLOWER THAN
CURRENTLY PROJECTED.

.LONG TERM...FOR SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...THE MEDIUM-RANGE MODELS
CONTINUE TO SHOW SOME DISAGREEMENT CONCERNING THE LATE WEEK SYSTEM.
BY 00Z SUNDAY...THE GFS HAS MOVED THE UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH INTO
COLORADO AND WYOMING...WHILE THE UKMET HOLDS THE TROUGH OVER THE
SOUTHERN HALF OF CALIFORNIA WITH 500-MB HEIGHTS OVER THE HANFORD
WARNING/FORECAST AREA AS LOW AS 5460 METERS. THE CANADIAN GLOBAL
MODEL HOLDS THE TROUGH BACK SIMILAR TO THE UKMET IN LOCATION AND
TIMING...BUT THE CANADIAN IS WEAKER WITH THE SYSTEM WITH 500-MB
HEIGHTS OF 5550 METERS OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. THE OTHER MEDIUM-
RANGE MODELS SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE...WITH THE NOGAPS MORE PROGRESSIVE
THAN THE OTHER MODELS EXCEPT THE GFS...AND THE ECMWF SLOWER THAN THE
NOGAPS...BUT FASTER THAN THE UKMET.

FOR SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING...ALL THE MODELS FORECAST A
REDUCTION IN THE CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
AS THE UKMET AND CANADIAN FORECAST THE TROUGH TO BE EAST OF THE
REGION...TO OVER UTAH AND ARIZONA. /THE CANADIAN DEEPENS THE TROUGH
AS IT MOVES EAST...SO THAT IT AND THE UKMET ARE VERY CLOSE IN THE
POSITION AND STRENGTH OF THE TROUGH. AT THE SAME TIME...THE GFS AND
NOGAPS PLACE THE TROUGH OVER THE GREAT PLAINS. THE ECMWF MEANWHILE
SLOWS THE TROUGH...SO THAT ITS SOLUTION IS JUST EAST OF THE
UKMET/CANADIAN POSITION.

THE DIFFERENCES AMONG THE MEDIUM-RANGE MODELS ARE STRONGER WITH THE
SYSTEM FORECAST TO REACH CALIFORNIA DURING THE FIRST PART OF NEXT
WEEK. THE UKMET AND GFS ARE FASTER BRINGING THIS SYSTEM INTO
CALIFORNIA... WITH AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW OVER THE COAST NEAR SAN JOSE
BY 00Z TUESDAY. THE CANADIAN GLOBAL BRINGS THE LOW INLAND MUCH
FURTHER NORTH... OVER SEATTLE...AND THE NOGAPS IS IN EXCELLENT
AGREEMENT WITH THE CANADIAN REGARDING THIS LOW. THE ECMWF TRIES TO
SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE...BRINGING THE SYSTEM INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
WITH TIMING SIMILAR TO THE UKMET/GFS.

GIVEN THE UNCERTAINTIES CONCERNING THE SATURDAY SYSTEM...CONSENSUS
AMONG NEIGHBORING OFFICES IS TO KEEP SLIGHT CHANCE POPS SATURDAY
THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING...THEN INTRODUCE HIGHER POPS SUNDAY AFTERNOON
INTO MONDAY AS THE NEXT SYSTEM ARRIVES. CONSENSUS IS TO GO WITH THE
UKMET/GFS SOLUTION AND RAISE SNOW LEVELS TUESDAY AS THE LOW PULLS
WARMER AIR NORTHWARD INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA.

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE
     SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO THE KERN COUNTY
     LINE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH CHRISTMAS DAY.

&&

JSN/SANGER

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 24, 5:00 AM PST, 2 hours before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
500 AM PST WED DEC 24 2003

CAZ089>095-098-099-251300-
WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS-TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS-
KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-
SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
500 AM PST WED DEC 24 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN
JUOAQUIN VALLEY..THE MARIPOSA..MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS...
THE TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS...AND THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND
DESERTS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

CAZ096-097-251300-
SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
500 AM PST WED DEC 24 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA
FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON...AND THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA
NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON...AND THE TULARE COUNTY
MOUNTAINS. REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER PRODUCT...WWUS46
KHNX...FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

THE WINTER STORM WARNING WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY.
REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER PRODUCT...WWUS46 KHNX...FOR
FURTHER DETAILS.

TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION ABOVE 8000 FEET WILL AVERAGE 2 TO 3 FEET
NORTH OF KINGS CANYON...AND AROUND 2 FEET IN THE TULARE COUNTY
MOUNTAINS. LESSER AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED NEAR 5000 FEET WITH TOTAL
ACCUMULATION 12 TO 18 INCHES NORTH OF KINGS CANYON...AND 10 TO 15
INCHES IN THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS.

Event by event

2 winter storm, 2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, S Sierra Mtns

When: December 24, 7:00 AM PST to December 25, 9:00 PM PST
Where: S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Winter Storm, Tulare Cty Mtns

When: December 24, 9:00 AM PST to December 25, 9:00 PM PST
Where: Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heavy Snow, Kern Cty Mtns

When: December 25, 6:00 PM PST to December 26, 4:00 AM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Tulare Cty Foothills

When: December 26, 12:00 AM PST to 4:00 AM PST
Where: Tulare Cty Foothills forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
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 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in California, December 2003

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5332353, 5332354, 5332355, 5332356.