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 Feb 16, 3:00 AM PST, 30 minutes earlier.
WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
300 AM PST SUN FEB 16 2003
A PROGRESSIVE PATTERN PERSISTS WITH A MEAN ZONAL FLOW ACROSS THE
PACIFIC AND THE U.S. AFTER THE PASSAGE OF A STRONG COLD FRONT THIS
MORNING...A SERIES OF SHORT WAVES AFFECTS MAINLY NE CA AND THE NRN
CWA.
A SHORT WAVE TROUGH MOVES ACROSS THE CA EARLY THIS MORNING. A
STRONG JETSTREAM CUTS ACROSS CENTRAL CA WITH STRONG DYNAMICS THROUGH
ABOUT 12Z...WEAKENING RAPIDLY AND SHIFTING EAST ACROSS NV BY 18Z. A
FEW HOURS OF HIGH HOURLY QPF IS EXPECTED OVER THE NRN SIERRA UNTIL
15Z AND PERHAPS AS LATE AS 18Z OVER MONO COUNTY WITH THE FRONTAL
PASSAGE. THIS SUPPORTS A MARGINAL WINTER STORM OVER THE EASTERN
SIERRA WHILE MUCH LIGHTER AMOUNTS SPREAD DOWN THE LEE SLOPES AND
ACROSS WRN NV AS BANDS OR PATCHY PRECIPITATION THROUGH THIS MORNING.
THE AIRMASS IS MUCH COLDER INTO THE NE CA AND NW NV VALLEYS AND
HOVERING BETWEEN 4500-5000 FEET WEST CENTRAL NV THIS AFTERNOON AS
THE SHOWERS TAPPER OFF. A SECOND SHORT WAVE WILL LIKELY PRODUCE
CONTINUING SNOW SHOWERS OVER NE CA AND PERHAPS AS FAR SOUTH AS TAHOE
THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. A WET AIRMASS OVER NE CA TO FAR NW NV
TONIGHT AND MONDAY. YET ANOTHER COLD SHORT WAVE DROPS SE FROM NE CA
AND OREGON MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING. THIS IS FOLLOWED
BY AT LESS CLOUDINESS AND COLDER TEMPERATURES TUESDAY NIGHT.
OSTERMAN.
IN THE EXTENDED...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...
NEXT SHORTWAVE IS EXPECTED TO SWEEP ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA ON
WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT...AT LEAST ACCORDING TO THE GFS AND
CANADIAN MODELS. THE ENSEMBLE MEMBERS FROM THE 12Z GFS ALSO STRONGLY
FAVORED THIS PROGRESSIVE TRACK WITH DECENT CHANCE OF PRECIP FROM
TAHOE NORTHWARD. QPF VALUES DROPPED OFF WITH THE NEW 06Z GFS WITH
SMALLER AREA OF .25 INCH QPF IN THE MOUNTAINS AND LIGHTER AMOUNTS
AROUND .10 INCH IN THE VALLEYS. SNOW LEVELS FROM THICKNESS VALUES
WOULD FAVOR MOST PRECIP IN THE FORM OF SNOW. THE SCENARIOS FROM THE
UKMET AND ECMWF WHICH SPLIT THE SYSTEM AND CLOSED OFF THE LOWS
EITHER OFF THE COAST OR INTO CALIFORNIA ARE LESS FAVORED WITH THE
OVERALL ZONAL FLOW PATTERN.
FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY THE 00Z AND 06Z GFS CONTINUED WITH WEAK
SHORTWAVES ON A MORE NORTHERLY TRACK WHICH MATCHED UP WELL WITH
EARLIER RUNS. THE CURRENT FORECAST OF SLIGHT CHANCES IN THE NORTHERN
ZONES LOOK GOOD AS SNOW LEVELS RISE BY 500-1000 FEET EACH DAY. BY
SATURDAY...THE GFS AND CANADIAN REBUILT A RIDGE WHILE THE ECMWF
ATTEMPTS TO DIG AN INLAND SHORTWAVE TOWARD THE NORTHERN ZONES. BOTH
SCENARIOS WOULD FAVOR DRY WEATHER. TEMPS SHOULD BE NEAR NORMAL FROM
THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY UNLESS THE ECMWF SCENARIO VERIFIES WHICH
WOULD KEEP SATURDAY COOLER. MJD
.REV...WINTER STORM WARNING CAZ71-72 AND NVZ02 THROUGH 8 AM.
WINTER STORM WARNING CAZ73 THROUGH 10 AM.CAZ070>073-NVZ001>005-161500 HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV 615 AM PST SAT FEB 15 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NEVADA...THE EASTERN SIERRA AND NORTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY A COLD PACIFIC WEATHER SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BY THIS AFTERNOON. PRECIPITATION WILL SPREAD DOWN THE SIERRA AND ACROSS WESTERN NEVADA THIS EVENING THROUGH TONIGHT WITH LOWERING SNOW LEVELS. STRONG WINDS AND SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS ARE LIKELY OVER THE NORTHERN SIERRA BY THIS EVENING. A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT FOR NORTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL SIERRA...REFER TO WWUS46 KREV RNOWSWREV FOR DETAILS...SEE WWW.WEATHER.GOV ON THE WEB .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THE WINTER STORM IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE INTO SUNDAY OVER NORTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND THE EAST SLOPES OF THE SIERRA. REFER TO WWUS46 KREV RNOWSWREV FOR DETAILS...SEE WWW.WEATHER.GOV ON THE WEB. UNSETTLED CONDITIONS WITH PERIODS OF RAIN OR SNOW PERSIST MONDAY AND TUESDAY FOR NORTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND THE NORTHERN SIERRA... FOLLOWED BY A POSSIBLE WINTER STORM WEDNESDAY INTO EARLY THURSDAY FOR THE SAME AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. LEO
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
6 inches of snow fell in Mammoth Lakes, CA during this 2-hour period.
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, February 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: 5345968.