Winter Storm, S Sierra Mtns
- When
- December 18, 4:00 AM PST to December 20, 12:00 AM PST
- Where
- S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in California, December 18 to 20, 2005
A winter storm affected the higher elevations of the northern portion of the Southern Sierra Nevada where 27 to 50 inches of new snow fell on the 18th and 19th. In the Tulare County portion of the range 17 to 28 inches of snow fell at the higher elevations.
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.
A winter storm affected the higher elevations of the northern portion of the Southern Sierra Nevada where 27 to 50 inches of new snow fell on the 18th and 19th. In the Tulare County portion of the range 17 to 28 inches of snow fell at the higher elevations. Rainfall totals on the adjacent Central and Southern San Joaquin Valley floor ranged from 0.68" at Merced, 0.45" at Fresno, 0.41" at Madera, to less than 1/4" south of Fresno. Sierra foothill locations recorded significant amounts of rain with Mariposa reporting 2.29", Yosemite 2.21", and Shaver Lake dropping off to 1.47" for the event.
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 Dec 18, 3:43 AM PST, 17 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 18, 3:43 AM PST, 17 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
343 AM PST SUN DEC 18 2005
.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...ENERGETIC
PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM IS APPROACHING THE NORTH/CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
COAST...CONTINUING TO SPREAD WAA PRECIP ACROSS INTERIOR CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA. THE PRECIP HAS SO FAR STAYED MAINLY NORTH OF KERN
COUNTY...WITH RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS RANGING FROM A COUPLE OF
HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH TO OVER HALF AN INCH. MODELS SHOW
PRECIPITATION INCREASING OVER THE DISTRICT TODAY AS THE UPPER
LOW MOVES INLAND OVER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. NAM IS QUITE A BIT
WETTER THAN THE GFS...BUT EVEN THE LESS AMBITIOUS GFS SUPPORTS
SNOWFALL AMOUNTS IN THE SIERRA ABOVE 7000 FEET WARRANTING A SNOW
ADVISORY IN TULARE COUNTY AND A WINTER STORM WARNING TO THE NORTH.
DRIER WEATHER WILL THEN RETURN MONDAY AND TUESDAY AS THE UPPER
RIDGE REBUILDS OVER THE WESTERN US. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO
RUN A FEW TO SEVERAL DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD.
.LONG TERM...FOR TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...THE RIDGE OF HIGH
PRESSURE SITUATED OVER CA EARLY NEXT WEEK WILL BEGIN TO SHIFT
EASTWARD INTO THE INTERIOR WEST TUESDAY NIGHT. A MOIST SOUTHWESTERLY
FETCH WILL ENSUE BEHIND THE RIDGE AND AHEAD OF THE NEXT TROUGH.
THIS LOOKS TO BE A RETURN TO ANOTHER WET PERIOD FOR OUR DISTRICT.
WILL SEE MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN AND HIGHER
ELEVATION SNOW ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF OUR AREA WEDNESDAY. THEN
THE CHANCE OF PRECIP SPREADS ACROSS THE ENTIRE CWFA WED NIGHT AND
THURSDAY AS THE TROUGH AXIS MAKES ITS WAY ACROSS THE REGION AND INTO
THE INTERIOR WEST. FAIR WEATHER SHOULD RETURN LATE IN THE WEEK AS
MODELS PROG HEIGHTS TO RISE RATHER SIGNIFICANTLY. AND IT LOOKS LIKE
FOG COULD BE IN THE OFFING FOR THE SJV FRIDAY PM/SAT AM. HAVE
ADDED PATCHY FOG INTO THE FORECAST PACKAGE. OTHERWISE...NO
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES AT THIS TIME.
&&
.AVIATION...VISIBILITIES AND CEILINGS MUCH IMPROVED IN THE SJV
COMPARED TO 24 HOURS AGO DESPITE THE WIDESPREAD PRECIP. HIGH END
MVFR AND LOW END VFR CONDITIONS CAN BE FOUND ACROSS THE VALLEY WITH
VSBYS RANGING FROM 4 TO 6 MILES IN MOST LOCALES AND CEILINGS AROUND
4K-6K FEET AGL. CONDITIONS LIKELY WORSE IN THE FOOTHILLS AND MTNS
WHERE CLOUDS ARE NO DOUBT BANKING UP AGAINST THE TERRAIN. SOGGY
CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST THROUGH 12Z MONDAY AS A STORM SYSTEM MOVES
ACROSS THE REGION. WILL LIKELY SEE WIDESPREAD MVFR AND LOCAL IFR
CONDITIONS RETURN TO THE VALLEY THURSDAY. FOR MORE DETAILS...PLEASE
REFER TO TAFS FOR KMCE...KFAT AND KBFL.
&&
.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE
SOUTHERN SIERRA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON TODAY AND
TONIGHT.
SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS TODAY AND
TONIGHT.
&&
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD /USE ALL LOWER CASE/
JEB/MYERSHazardous weather outlook, Dec 17, 2:00 PM PST, 14 hours before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 200 PM PST SAT DEC 17 2005 CAZ096-181300- SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON- 200 PM PST SAT DEC 17 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A WINTER STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH LATE SUNDAY NIGHT. PLEASE REFER TO SFOWSWHNX OR WWUS46 KHNX FOR FURTHER DETAILS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. CAZ089>095-097>099-181300- WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS-TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS- KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY- SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 200 PM PST SAT DEC 17 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND ADJACENT FOOTHILLS...THE TULARE AND KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS...AND THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. DCH
Event by event
1 winter storm, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Tulare Cty Mtns
- When
- December 18, 6:00 AM PST to December 20, 12:00 AM 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.
- 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
- Cold in Illinois, December 18 to 22, 2005
- Strong Wind in Hawaii, December 18, 2005
- Cold in Wisconsin, December 18 to 19, 2005
- High Wind in Washington, December 18, 2005
- High Wind in Oregon, December 18 to 20, 2005
- High Wind in Oregon, December 18, 2005
- Winter Weather in Oregon, December 18 to 20, 2005
- Winter Weather in Colorado, December 18 to 20, 2005
- Heavy Snow in Oregon, December 18 to 19, 2005
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, December 18, 2005
- Heavy Snow in Michigan, December 18 to 19, 2005
- High Wind in Hawaii, December 18 to 19, 2005
More
Every storm in California in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5489180, 5489181.