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 24, 2:40 PM PST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
240 PM PST MON FEB 24 2003
WV/IR LOOPS INDICATING THE UPPER LOW 35N/128W CONTINUING TO SLIP
SOUTH OFF THE CENTRAL CA COAST. THIS SYSTEM IS FINALLY BEGINNING TO
PUSH SOME LOWER LEVEL MOISTURE INTO THE CENTRAL CA INTERIOR AS
INDICATED BY KHNX AND KMUX 88D/S. 18Z MESO CONSISTENT WITH 12Z MODEL
RUNS AND PUSHES THE UPPER LOW EAST THIS EVENING AND ONSHORE TUESDAY
WHICH WILL PUSH A LARGE UPPER TROUGH ACROSS THE CENTRAL CA INTERIOR.
WITH THE CWFA IN THE FAVORED LFQ OF 120+ KT 250 MB CYCLONIC JET MAX
AND PROJECTED CAPES OF 100 TO 300 J/KG AND PROJECTED LI/S BELOW ZERO
ACROSS MUCH OF THE CWFA TONIGHT...WILL MENTION ISOLATED T-STORMS
ACROSS MOST OF THE CWFA FOR TONIGHT. PROJECTED QPF/S OF HALF AN INCH
TO AN INCH TONIGHT...AND ANOTHER QUARTER TO HALF AN INCH TUESDAY OVER
THE KERN MOUNTAINS SUGGEST SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS ABOVE
THE PROJECTED SNOW LEVEL OF 4000 FEET TONIGHT. ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD
BE LOWER ACROSS THE SOUTHERN SIERRAS SINCE UPPER DYNAMICS WON/T BE AS
FAVORABLE. PER COORDINATION WITH SOCAL WFO/S...WILL ISSUE A WINTER
STORM WARNING FOR THE KERN MOUNTAINS AND A SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE
TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS FOR TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING. AS THE
TROUGH MOVES EAST OF CA TUESDAY NIGHT THE PRECIPITATION SHOULD COME
TO AN END. A COOLER AIRMASS PUSHES INTO THE CENTRAL CA INTERIOR
BEHIND THE DEPARTING TROUGH. WITH THE ATMOSPHERE DRYING OUT TUESDAY
NIGHT...WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE SOME ISOLATED FROST WEDNESDAY
MORNING IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. A HIGH AMPLITUDE UPPER RIDGE
BUILDS BETWEEN 135W AND 140W WEDNESDAY. GFS/GEM/ECMWF PROGS ALL
INDICATING AN INSIDE SLIDER SYSTEM DROPPING SOUTHEAST AHEAD OF THE
RIDGE BUT JUST TO THE EAST OF THE SIERRAS ON THURSDAY AND THURSDAY
NIGHT. WILL MENTION ISOLATED SHOWERS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRAS...BUT
KEEP THE REMAINDER OF THE CWFA DRY AS THESE MODELS ALL INDICATE
UNFAVORABLE DYNAMICS AND INSUFFICIENT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE FOR THIS
SYSTEM TO PRODUCE PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE LOWER ELEVATIONS. THE
UKMET IS FURTHER WEST WITH THIS SYSTEM...BUT IT HAS BEEN DISCARDED AS
THE ODD MODEL OUT. THE MAIN IMPACT OF THIS SYSTEM FOR OUR AREA IS
THAT IT WILL REINFORCE THE COOL AIRMASS THAT WILL PUSH INTO THE AREA
BEHIND THE SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH TONIGHT. DS
FOR THE EXTENDED...ANOTHER WEAK SHORTWAVE WILL TRAVERSE THE REGION
AGAIN FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. VERY LITTLE MOISTURE OR DYNAMICS
WITH THIS SYSTEM...SO CONFINED POPS TO HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE
SIERRA. HIGH PRESSURE WILL GRADUALLY BUILD OVER THE AREA SATURDAY
AFTERNOON INTO MONDAY. TEMPS WILL REMAIN A LITTLE BELOW NORMAL
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...THEN A WARMING TREND BEGINS SUNDAY. ANY NIGHT
AND MORNING FOG IN THE VALLEY IS EXPECTED TO PATCHY AT WORST.
BINGHAM
.HNX...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING FOR THE KERN
COUNTY MOUNTAINS.
...SNOW ADVISORY TONIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING FOR THE TULARE
COUNTY MOUNTAINS.CAZ089>099-251400- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 530 AM PST MON FEB 24 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR. .DAY ONE...TODAY A WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT TONIGHT FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS. (WWUS46 KHNX). ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS, AS WELL AS THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THE WINTER STORM WATCH CONTINUES TO BE IN EFFECT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAIANS(WWUS46 KHNX). ELSEWHERE, 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.
High amounts of snow were reported above the 6000 foot level in the Kern County Mountains on the 24th. Significant amounts of snow (5-7") were reported in the Tulare County Mountains but did not reach warning threshold levels.
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: 5342715.