Winter Storm in California, May 2 to 3, 2003

Name: Winter Storm in California, May 2 to 3, 2003
Start: 2003-05-02T08:30
End: 2003-05-03T19:30
Location: California

May 2 to 3, 2003 · NWS HNX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

The last major winter storm of the season brought over 15 to 25 inches of snow to the higher elevations of the Southern Sierra Nevada and Tulare County Mountains at the first of the month.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS HNX wrote it up.

The last major winter storm of the season brought over 15 to 25 inches of snow to the higher elevations of the Southern Sierra Nevada and Tulare County Mountains at the first of the month.

What forecasters said that day

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 May 2, 7:47 AM PST, 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 2, 7:47 AM PST, 43 minutes before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
845 AM PDT FRI MAY 21 2003

THE UPPER LOW RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INCLEMENT WEATHER WAS STATIONED
ABOUT 500 NM W OF POINT CONCEPTION AT MID MORNING. INITIAL
BAROCLINICITY PUSHED INTO THE NORTHERN AND WESTERN SXNS OF THE CWFA
THIS MORNING...SPREADING PRECIPITATION OVER PRIMARILY THE NORTHERN
AND WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE DISTRICT. MERCED ASOS HAS REPORTED ONLY
0.11 INCH OF PRECIPITATION THUS FAR...DESPITE 88D ESTIMATES PLACING
CUMULATIVE RAINFALL AMOUNTS AROUND ONE HALF INCH IN THIS LOCATION.
THIS IS GOOD TESTAMENT TO THE RESIDENT DRY LOWER LEVELS IN PLACE
BEFORE THE STORM. GOOD MOISTURE FETCH OUT TO THE SOUTHWEST SHOULD
CONTINUE TO MOISTEN THE LOWER/MID LEVELS THIS MORNING INTO THE
AFTERNOON...ENSURING THAT A BETTER PERCENTAGE OF ECHOES DEPICTED ON
RADAR REACH THE GROUND. MODEL SOUNDINGS CONTINUE TO SHOW A
MARGINALLY UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE TODAY...BUT H5 TEMPS RUNNING NEAR -19
DEGC PER GOES DERIVED SOUNDING AND LIMITED SUNSHINE IN THE PRE
FRONTAL ENVIRONMENT DON/T SEEM TO BE PARTICULARLY SUPPORTIVE OF
STRONG CONVECTION. MODELS MAY BE PUSHING THIS POTENTIAL TOO
MUCH...AS GOES SOUNDINGS SHOW HIGHER LI/S AND NONEXISTENT CAPE AT
MIDMORNING.

CURRENT FORECAST LOOKS IN GREAT SHAPE AND SEE NO REASON TO UPDATE
ATTM.

.HNX...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA ABOVE
       6500 FEET...NORTH OF KERN COUNTY...FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH
       SATURDAY.
    ...SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS...ABOVE 6500
       FEET...FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY.

BURGER

Hazardous weather outlook, May 2, 4:30 AM PST, 4 hours before

CAZ089>099-031230-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
530 AM PDT FRI MAY 2 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
INTERIOR.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA
NEVADA ABOVE 6500 FEET...NORTH OF KERN COUNTY...FOR THIS AFTERNOON
THROUGH SATURDAY...(WWUS46 KHNX).  THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST FOR
TODAY, FOR THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, THE FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS, THE
TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS AND THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

A SNOW ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS ABOVE
6500 FEET...FROM MIDNIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY.  THUNDERSTORMS ARE
FORECAST FOR TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT FOR THE SAN JOAQUIN
VALLEY, THE FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS, AND FOR THE TULARE FOOTHILLS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 2, 4:21 AM PST, 4 hours 9 minutes before

CAZ089>095-022300-

CONVECTIVE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
521 AM PDT FRI MAY 2 2003

...ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL POSSIBLE IN THE CENTRAL
AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND THE FOOTHILLS THIS AFTERNOON
AND AGAIN SATURDAY...

A STRONG PACIFIC STORM WILL MOVE INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA LATER
TODAY...AND REMAIN OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA THROUGH SATURDAY.
ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS LOOK FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN
VALLEY AND THE ADJACENT FOOTHILLS THIS AFTERNOON INTO EARLY THIS
EVENING...AND AGAIN DURING THE DAY SATURDAY. ALTHOUGH THE STRONGEST
THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE FROM FRESNO COUNTY NORTHWARD...
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ANYWHERE IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTH
VALLEY...WITH SOME MOVING INTO THE FOOTHILLS OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA
NEVADA OR THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS.

A FEW THUNDERSTORMS COULD REACH SEVERE LEVELS...PRODUCING LARGE
HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 58 MPH OR HIGHER. IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT
OF HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS...THE THUNDERSTORMS ALSO WILL PRODUCE
LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. RUNOFF FROM THESE RAINS COULD CAUSE LOCAL
FLOODING IN AREAS WITH POOR DRAINAGE.

RESIDENTS IN THE ABOVE MENTIONED AREAS SHOULD KEEP A WATCHFUL EYE
ON THE SKY THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING...AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK
SAFE SHELTER WHEN THE WEATHER TURNS THREATENING.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR YOUR FAVORITE NEWS SOURCE...
FOR UPDATES OR WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING PATTERN.

OR VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/HANFORD.

SANGER

Event by event

2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, S Sierra Mtns

When: May 2, 8:30 AM PST to May 3, 7:30 PM PST
Where: S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Winter Storm, Tulare Cty Mtns

When: May 2, 8:30 AM PST to 7:30 PM PST
Where: Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in California, May 2003

Sources

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: 5356078, 5356079.