1 winter storm, 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 9, 2:15 PM PST, 4 hours 59 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA 215 PM PST TUE DEC 9 2003 .SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...AS EXPECTED... RAIN HAS BEEN VERY SLOW TO MOVE SOUTHEAST WITH RADAR FROM MONTEREY SHOWING THE LEADING EDGE NEARING SALINAS. WITH CURRENT TIMING... EXPECT THE RAIN TO REACH THE SAN LUIS RESERVOIR AREA BY AROUND SUNSET AND MERCED BY 600 PM. SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS A VERY WELL DEFINED BAROCLINIC BAND STRETCHING FROM NEAR UKIAH TO AROUND 250 MILES WEST OF POINT CONCEPTION. WITH WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWING PARENT LOW CENTER MOVING PRETTY MUCH DUE EAST ALONG 40N AND MODELS CONTINUING TO PROJECT AN EASTWARD TRANSLATION OVERNIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...EXPECT MOST PRECIPITATION WILL FALL OVER THE NORTHERN PARTS OF THE AREA...WITH LITTLE TO NO PRECIPITATION FOR KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS WITH THIS FIRST SYSTEM. MODEL QPF SUGGESTS AROUND ONE FOOT OF SNOW FOR THE YOSEMITE AREA AND WILL UPGRADE THE WINTER STORM WATCH TO A WARNING FOR TONGIHT AND WEDNESDAY. LOOKS LIKE BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL MOVE EAST OF THE SIERRA AND THIS SHOULD SHUT OFF THE WIDESPREAD RAIN AND SNOW FOR A LITTLE WHILE. LATEST MODELS BRING A SECONDARY SYSTEM INTO POINT CONCEPTION AND ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ON THURSDAY. THIS TRACK SHOULD GIVE KERN COUNTY THE BEST SHOT AT RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW...WITH LESSER AMOUNTS TO THE NORTH. THIS SYSTEM CLEARS EAST OF THE AREA THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY FOR DRY WEATHER AND HIGH PRESSURE. .LONG TERM...FOR SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...PROGRESSIVE PATTERN CONTINUES THROUGH THE WEEKEND. TIMING OF NEXT STORM SYSTEM PROGGED BY MEDIUM RANGE MODELS TO BRING CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION TO CWFA SAT EVENING INTO LATE SUNDAY. STORM TRACK EXPECTED TO BE SIMILAR TO PREVIOUS SYSTEM MOVING RAPIDLY SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE CALIFORNIA INTERIOR BEFORE MOVING INTO ARIZONA. MONDAY AND TUESDAY SHOULD BE DRY WITH H5 RIDGE FORMING OVER THE STATE. && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY FOR THE SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON. && DUDLEY/MENDENHALL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 500 AM PST TUE DEC 9 2003 CAZ096-091300- SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON- 500 AM PST TUE DEC 9 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY A WINTER STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE /WWUS46 KHNX/ FOR DETAILS. A PACIFIC WEATHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...BRINGING THE THREAT OF HEAVY SNOW TO THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON. AT THIS TIME...THE HEAVIEST SNOW IS LIKELY IN THE YOSEMITE AREA...WHERE ELEVATIONS ABOVE 6000 FEET COULD RECEIVE 12 TO 16 INCHES OF SNOW BY LATE WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. CAZ089>095-097>099-091300- 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 TUE DEC 9 2003 .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY 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 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Meso-net site at CFLO reported south wind gusts to 51 MPH at 2014 PST with a new snow accumulation of 12" at Tuolumne Meadows in a 12-hour period over the night of the 9th.
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: 5330695.