Name: Heavy Snow in California, April 3 to 4, 2005
Start: 2005-04-03T19:00
End: 2005-04-04T03:00
Location: California

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 REV wrote it up.

A winter storm moved through eastern California and western Nevada on the 3rd and 4th. Snowfall amounts in the central Sierra approached two feet in the higher elevations.Storm total snowfall amounts:Sierra-at-Tahoe Ski Resort (8800 ft.) 21 inchesAlpine Meadows Ski Resort (mid-mtn) 16 inchesSoda Springs Ski Resort 16 inchesKingvale (6100 ft.) 11 inchesSquaw Valley Ski Resort (8200 ft.) 10 inches

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 Reno, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 3, 3:00 PM PST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 3, 3:00 PM PST, 4 hours before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 3, 5:55 AM PST, 13 hours 5 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
655 AM PDT SUN APR 3 2005

CAZ070>073-NVZ001>005-041600-
GREATER LAKE TAHOE AREA-GREATER RENO-CARSON CITY-MINDEN
AREA-LASSEN-EASTERN PLUMAS-EASTERN SIERRA COUNTIES-MONO-NORTHERN
WASHOE COUNTY-SURPRISE VALLEY CALIFORNIA-WESTERN NEVADA BASIN AND
RANGE-
655 AM PDT SUN APR 3 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NEVADA...THE EASTERN
SIERRA...NORTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA...AND NORTHWESTERN NEVADA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

.A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION TODAY AND
TONIGHT. HEAVY MOUNTAIN SNOWS...ALONG WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS WILL
ACCOMPANY THE STORM. PLEASE MONITOR THE WINTER STORM MESSAGE FROM
RENO /WWUS45 RNOWSWREV/ FOR FURTHER DETAILS. PLEASE SEE THE LATEST
WIND ADVISORY STATEMENT FROM RENO /WWUS75 RNONPWREV/ FOR FURTHER
DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

THE PACIFIC STORM WILL MOVE OUT OF THE AREA EARLY MONDAY MORNING
WITH PRECIPITATION DECREASING AS A RIDGE MOVES IN BEHIND THE
FRONTAL SYTEM WITH NO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER EXPECTED.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Greater Lake Tahoe Area

When: April 3, 7:00 PM PST to April 4, 3:00 AM PST
Where: Greater Lake Tahoe Area forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 38.935, -120.458 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in California, April 2005

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5470467.