Winter Storm in California, December 1 to 2, 2005

Name: Winter Storm in California, December 1 to 2, 2005
Start: 2005-12-01T00:00
End: 2005-12-02T02:30
Location: California

December 1 to 2, 2005 · NWS STO · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

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 STO wrote it up.

The first major winter storm of the season brought strong winds throughout the Central Valley and moderate precipitation amounts to the Valley and Sierra Nevada Mountain areas. Snow levels were high and the significant snowfalls were above the Trans-Sierra pass elevations. Peak wind gusts included 47 mph in Red Bluff, 44 mph in Oroville, 28 mph in Vacaville, 35 mph in Sacramento (SMF), and 33 mph in Stockton. Rainfall amounts included 1.96 inches in Redding, 0.56" in Chico, 0.99" in Vacaville, 0.57" in Sacramento (SAC), 0.08" in Modesto, and 4.00" in Blue Canyon.

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 Sacramento, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 30, 9:20 PM PST, 2 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 30, 9:20 PM PST, 2 hours 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
920 PM PST WED NOV 30 2005

.DISCUSSION...
A PLETHORA OF WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES ARE IN PLACE FOR THE WINTER
WEATHER SYSTEM THATS MOVING THROUGH NORTHERN CALIFORNIA & IS DUE
TO INTENSIFY TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY IN RAIN & SNOW AMOUNTS AS WELL
AS INCREASES IN SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WIND. THE LATEST PRECIPITATION
AMOUNTS RANGE FROM A FEW HUNDREDTHS NEAR THE CAPITAL CITY TO WELL
OVER 1/2 IN THE PAST FOUR HOURS AROUND SHASTA. THE WINDS ARE JUST
STARTING TO PICK UP...WITH SOME GUSTS FROM 30 TO 40 MILES AN HOUR
ALREADY OCCURRING ACROSS THE INTERIOR COASTAL MOUNTAINS. ADVISORY
FOR THESE WINDS THAT WAS ISSUED AT THE END OF THE LAST SHIFT WILL
EXPIRE BY 10 PM...SO THIS WILL BE FRESHENED SHORTLY. WINTER STORM
WARNINGS ISSUED EVEN LATER WILL EXPIRE EARLY DURING THE GRAVEYARD
SHIFT...SO RATHER THAN DUMPING THAT WORK ON AN ALREADY BUSY SHIFT
WILL LIKELY FRESHEN THAT BEFORE 11 PM. CURRENT ZONES REFLECT WHAT
PRESENT THINKING IS CLOSELY ENOUGH THAT THERE ARE NO PLANS FOR AN
UPDATE ON THOSE AT THIS TIME. PLENTY OF WORK DONE ON THE GRIDS TO
MATCH WHAT THE FORECAST, WATCHES AND ADVISORIES ALREADY INDICATE.

&&

.AVIATION...
WARM FRONTAL PCPN SPREADING INTO INTERIOR NORCAL LOWERING CIGS AND
VSBYS TO MVFR TO LCL IFR CONDS IN PCPN. WARM FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS
NORCAL BY 12Z THU AND MVFR TO LCL IFR WX WILL SPREAD INTO SRN SAC
VLY/NRN SAN JOAQUIN VLY CIRCA SUNRISE THU. LIFR WX IN CIGS/VSBYS/PCPN
WILL ALSO DEVELOP OVER W SLOPES SIERNEV THRU 12Z.

DEVELOPING SFC LOW OFF THE N COAST WILL INCREASE SLY GRADIENTS OVER
NORCAL BY 12Z AND GUSTY SLY WINDS 25G40KT SHOULD DEVELOP. COLD FRONT
FORECAST TO MOVE INTO RDD AREA AROUND 20Z THU TO A KSVE-S OF KCIC-KUKI
LINE BY 00Z FRI. CDFNT FORECAST TO MOVE INTO THE SAC VCNTY AROUND 06Z
FRI. HEAVY PCPN EXPECTED AHEAD OF CDFNT WITH LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR
POTENTIAL IN THE VICINITY OF THE CDFNT.   JHM

&&

.STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER STORM WARNING...UNTIL 7 PM
                                   PST THURSDAY...FOR WEST SLOPE
                                   NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA-WESTERN
                                   PLUMAS COUNTY/LASSEN PARK.

                                ...WINTER STORM WARNING...UNTIL 4 PM
                                   PST THURSDAY...FOR BURNEY BASIN/
                                   EASTERN SHASTA COUNTY-SHASTA LAKE
                                   AREA/NORTHERN SHASTA COUNTY.

                                ...WIND ADVISORY...FROM MIDNIGHT
                                   TONIGHT TO 6 PM PST THURSDAY...
                                   FOR CLEAR LAKE/SOUTHERN LAKE
                                   COUNTY-MOUNTAINS SOUTHWEST SHASTA
                                   COUNTY TO NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY.

                                ...WIND ADVISORY...FROM 2 AM TO 6 PM
                                   PST THURSDAY...MOTHERLODE-NORTHEAST
                                   FOOTHILLS/SACRAMENTO VALLEY.

                                ...WIND ADVISORY...FROM 4 AM TO 6 PM
                                   PST THURSDAY...FOR CARQUINEZ STRAIT
                                   AND DELTA-ALL OF SACRAMENTO VALLEY.

&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 30, 6:57 PM PST, 5 hours 3 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
657 PM PST WED NOV 30 2005

CAZ013>019-063-064-066>069-011500-
SHASTA LAKE AREA/NORTHERN SHASTA COUNTY-
BURNEY BASIN/EASTERN SHASTA COUNTY-NORTHERN SACRAMENTO VALLEY-
CENTRAL SACRAMENTO VALLEY-SOUTHERN SACRAMENTO VALLEY-
CARQUINEZ STRAIT AND DELTA-NORTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
MOUNTAINS SOUTHWESTERN SHASTA TO NORTHERN LAKE COUNTIES-
CLEAR LAKE/SOUTHERN LAKE COUNTY-MOTHERLODE-
EAST FOOTHILLS/NORTH SACRAMENTO VALLEY-
WESTERN PLUMAS COUNTY/LASSEN PARK-WEST SLOPE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA-
657 PM PST WED NOV 30 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR INTERIOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A WARM PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM IS MOVING THROUGH NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
BRINGING RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW TO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA ALONG WITH
STRONG AND GUSTY SOUTH TO SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS.

* WINTER STORM WARNING.......SEE WWUS46 KSTO - WSWSTO FOR DETAILS *

* WIND ADVISORY..............SEE WWUS76 KSTO - NPWSTO FOR DETAILS *

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

A WARM PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE THROUGH NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA ON THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT BRINGING RAIN, WITH SNOW
TO THE MOUNTAINS, IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. IN ADDITION...STRONG AND
GUSTY SOUTH TO SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS WILL ACCOMPANY THIS SYSTEM. THE
WIND AND PRECIPITATION WILL DECREASE ON FRIDAY.

OTHERWISE...NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

* WINTER STORM WARNING.......SEE WWUS46 KSTO - WSWSTO FOR DETAILS *

* WIND ADVISORY..............SEE WWUS76 KSTO - NPWSTO FOR DETAILS *

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

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

THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET AT
(LOWER CASE): HTTP://WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/STO

RCH

Event by event

2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, X Se Shasta/X E Tehama/W Plumas T X Sw

When: December 1, 12:00 AM PST to December 2, 2:30 AM PST
Where: X Se Shasta/X E Tehama/W Plumas T X Sw forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Winter Storm, W Sierra T X W/C Nevada/C Placer/C El Dorado/E Amador/Ne Calaveras/C & Ne Tuolumne/Sw Alpine

When: December 1, 12:00 AM PST to December 2, 2:30 AM PST
Where: W Sierra T X W/C Nevada/C Placer/C El Dorado/E Amador/Ne Calaveras/C & Ne Tuolumne/Sw Alpine 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 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in California, December 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5489005, 5489006.