1 debris flow, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 Hanford, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 7, 10:05 AM PST, 1 hour 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 1005 AM PST SUN DEC 7 2003 .SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...RAIN AND SNOW HAVE DIMINISHED OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA NORTH OF TULARE COUNTY...SO HAVE LET THE WINTER STORM WARNING EXPIRE. SCATTERED LIGHT SHOWERS CONTINUE OVER THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR THIS MORNING...BUT SHOULD MOSTLY END BY EARLY AFTERNOON EXCEPT OVER THE MOUNTAINS WHERE OROGRAPHIC FORCING WILL KEEP A FEW SHOWERS GOING INTO THE EVENING. SNOW LEVELS REMAIN AROUND 5500 FEET NEAR YOSEMITE TO 7000 FEET IN THE TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS...WITH 1-3 INCHES OF NEW SNOW LIKELY. THE HEAVIEST SNOWS SO FAR HAVE BEEN NEAR YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK...WHERE A FEW LOCATIONS ABOVE 7500 FEET RECEIVED UP TO A FOOT OF NEW SNOW. SNOW AMOUNTS TAPERED OFF TO THE SOUTH...WITH ONLY 1-4 INCHES OF NEW SNOW SO FAR IN THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS. FORECAST CONCERNS TODAY INCLUDE PATCHY LOW CLOUDS AND FOG THAT DEVELOPED IN THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FOOTHILLS AND THE POTENTIAL FOR FROST IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY TONIGHT. IN THE FOOTHILLS...HAVE HAD A COUPLE OF SPOTTER REPORTS OF LOW CLOUDS AND FOG AS WEST WINDS OVER THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY PUSH THE STRATOCUMULUS OVER THE VALLEY INTO THE FOOTHILLS. THE VISIBILITY WAS LOCALLY REDUCED TO AROUND 1/4 MILE...BUT CHP REPORTS NO FOG PROBLEMS ON THE MAJOR ROADS. HAVE OPTED NOT TO ISSUED AN ADVISORY DUE TO THE LOCALIZED NATURE OF THE FOG...BUT HAVE COVERED WITH A NOWCAST AND UPDATED THE ZONES. FOR TONIGHT...WITH THE COLD AIRMASS BEHIND THE FRONT IN PLACE OVER THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...CENTRAL/SOUTH VALLEY LOWS WILL FALL INTO THE 30S TO AROUND 40. WINDS ARE FORECAST TO REMAIN AROUND 10 MPH... WHICH WOULD PROVIDE ENOUGH MECHANICAL MIXING TO PREVENT WIDESPREAD NEAR-FREEZING TEMPERATURES. AN UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS INTO CALIFORNIA MONDAY FOR DRY CONDITIONS BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEXT TROUGH LATE TUESDAY. THE DEEP COLD AIRMASS WILL HAVE LITTLE TIME TO MIX OUT BEFORE THE NEXT TROUGH ARRIVES...SO TEMPERATURES WILL SEE LITTLE CHANGE TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY. .LONG TERM...FOR WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...MEDIUM RANGE PROGS REMAIN CONSISTENT IN PUSHING A MOIST UPPER TROUGH THROUGH CENTRAL CA TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. GFS PROGS THE DEEPEST MOISTURE AND STRONGEST OMEGAS TO RAPIDLY CROSS THE CWFA LATE TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING. WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS GOING FOR THIS TIME FRAME. PRECIPITATION SHOULD DECREASE WEDNESDAY AS A S/W TROUGH PUSHING INTO NORCAL PUSHES THIS SYSTEM EAST OF THE AREA. WILL KEEP A SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION GOING WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS SOME MOISTURE FROM THE TRAILING SYSTEM MIGHT MAKE IT/S WAY SOUTHWARD INTO CENTRAL CA. THE MODELS REMAIN IN EXCELLENT AGREEMENT WITH DROPPING A CLOSED UPPER LOW SOUTHWARD OFF THE CA COAST THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. THERE IS SOME UNCERTAINTY ON HOW FAR OFFSHORE THIS SYSTEM WILL BE AS IT MAKES IT/S SOUTHWARD PUSH. WILL KEEP MENTION OF CHANCE POPS FOR ALL ZONES DURING THIS PERIOD BECAUSE OF THE UNCERTAINTY WITH THE TRACK OF THE UPPER LOW...AND IT/S ASSOCIATED MOISTURE. AS THE LOW APPROACHES BAJA ON FRIDAY...A DRIER AIRMASS WILL BEGIN TO SLOWLY BUILD INTO THE AREA. A RIDGE IS THEN EXPECTED TO BRING MORE TRANQUIL (BUT FOGGY FOR THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY) CONDITIONS FOR NEXT WEEKEND. && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SANGER/DS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 500 AM PST SUN DEC 7 2003 CAZ096-081259- SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON- 500 AM PST SUN DEC 7 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON. .DAY ONE...TODAY THE WINTER STORM WARNING WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MID MORNING. REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER STATEMENT /WWUS46 KHNX/ FOR FURTHER DETAIS. SNOW LEVELS WILL LOWER TO NEAR 5500 FEET THIS MORNING. ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS UP TO 6 INCHES THIS MORNING...BRINGING STORM TOTALS SINCE SATURDAY AFTERNOON TO 12 TO 18 INCHES. PEOPLE PLANNING TRAVEL INTO THE HIGH SIERRA SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. CAZ089>095-097>099-081259- 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-TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY- SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 500 AM PST SUN DEC 7 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...THE SIERRA NEVADA FOOTHILLS...THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS..THE FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS... AND THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.
1 debris flow. Local standard time, as filed.
A rock slide occurred in the Kern River Canyon after 0.20" of rain had fallen in a 4-hour period close by in the Kern County Mountains.
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, December 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: 5330696.