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 Feb 15, 9:25 PM PST, 5 hours 35 minutes earlier.
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA 925 PM PST SAT FEB 15 2003 VIGOROUS PACIFIC TROF APPROACHING CENTRAL CA THIS EVE. MODELS AND SAT PIX SHOW THE SYS MOVING RIGHT ALONG, SO EXPECT PRECIP TO BECOME WIDESPREAD MOST AREAS NEAR OR SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. STRONGEST FORCING LOOKS TO BE CENTERED AROUND 12Z WHERE THERE IS THE DEEPEST MOISTURE AND OMEGA. MUCH OF THE PRECIP LOOKS LIKE IT WILL TAPER OFF RAPIDLY SUN MORNING PER 00Z MODELS, AND AGREE WITH THAT PER SAT PIX. THUS, PRECIP WORDING FOR SUN LOOKS OVERDONE IN ZONES DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. T-STORM DEVELOPMENT SUN AFTERNOON DOESNT LOOK TOO GOOD AT THIS TIME. MESO ETA SHOWS RISING STABILITIES IN THE AFTERNOON JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE. THERE IS ONE EXCEPTION HOWEVER, AND THAT IS FROM ABOUT MADERA NORTHWARD. THIS IS AN AREA WHERE THE MESO INDICATES SOME POSITIVE OMEGA 21Z-00Z, WITH 5H TEMPS NEAR -22C. THE MESO ALSO ALSO SHOWS SOME SPEED AND DIRECTIONAL SHEAR ABOVE 85H. SO CANNOT RULE OUT AN ISOLATED SEVERE STORM. LOCALLY BREEZY IN THE KERN MTNS/DESERTS SUN AFTERNOON AND EVE BEHIND TROF. MODELS HAVE SCALED BACK QUITE A BIT ON EXPECTED QPF AMOUNTS. THOUGH THE SYS IS STRONG, ITS SPEED OF DEPARTURE WILL LIMIT RAIN/SNOW TOTALS. ETA AND GFS ARE NOW FCSTG TOTALS 1/4-1/2 INCH LESS THAN PREVIOUS RUNS. HOWEVER, SHOULD STILL BE ENOUGH SNOW IN MTNS TO MEET WARNING CRITERIA. .HNX...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. BINGHAM
CAZ089>099-161345- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 545 AM PST SAT FEB 15 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR. .DAY ONE...TODAY A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA TONIGHT. (WWUS46 KHNX) .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THE WINTER STORM WARNING WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BUILD IN THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY SUNDAY..BUT THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .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.
A fast-moving cold front put 12 inches of new snow on the ground at Kaiser Point in the Southern Sierra Nevada early on the 16th.
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: 5342714.