Hail in California, March 23, 2005

Name: Hail in California, March 23, 2005
Start: 2005-03-23T18:00
End: 2005-03-23T18:00
Location: California

March 23, 2005 · NWS STO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Minor damage to vehicles.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: $2,000
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 STO wrote it up.

Minor damage to vehicles.

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 Mar 23, 3:30 PM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 23, 3:30 PM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED TIME STAMP
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
330 PM PST WED MAR 23 2005

.DISCUSSION...
LOW PRESSURE AREA SPINNING ALONG THE COAST OF OREGON WILL CONTINUE
TO HELP SPREAD RAIN AND SNOW TO THE WESTERN SLOPES OF THE SIERRA
NEVADA INTO THIS EVENING. MODELS INDICATE COLDER AIR MOVING OVER
THE WEST SLOPES LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING LOWERING SNOW LEVELS
TO AROUND THE 2500 FOOT LEVEL. SNOW LEVELS APPEAR TO BE AROUND 3000
TO 3500 FEET BUT CONVECTIVE SHOWERS ARE STARTING TO GET GOING...SO
SNOW LEVEL MAY START TO LOWER. WILL CONTINUE THE SNOW ADVISORY FOR
THE MOTHERLODE STARTING  THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. THIS
EVENING SNOW LEVELS MAY LOWER LOCALLY DOWN TO AROUND THE 2000 FOOT
LEVEL IN HEAVIER SHOWERS.

SOME THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED IN THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN
SACRAMENTO VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON. AS THE UPPER LOW SWINGS INLAND
THIS EVENING EXPECT THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TO CONTINUE OVER THE
NORTHERN SACRAMENTO VALLEY AND ADJACENT AREAS THROUGH THE EVENING.

THE UPPER LOW WILL MOVE JUST FAR ENOUGH TO THE EAST TO PUT MOST OF
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE TROUGH ON THURSDAY. AS A
RESULT EXPECT LESS SHOWER ACTIVITY ON THURSDAY WITH SOME POSSIBLE
SUNSHINE MIXED WITH CLOUDS.

SETTING UP FOR THIS WEEKEND IS ANOTHER STORM...THIS WILL BE A WARM
SYSTEM  SO SNOW LEVELS WILL BE HIGH. A MOIST FETCH OF AIR WILL
OVERRUN PARTS OF THE REGION BEGINNING FRIDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUE TO
OVERRUN THE REGION BRINGING CHANGES OF LIGHT RAIN TO THE REGION WELL
AHEAD OF THE MAIN SYSTEM DUE IN ON SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT.

&&

.STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
    ...SNOW ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM THIS EVENING FOR THE WEST SLOPE OF
       THE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA.
    ...SNOW ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY THROUGH 10 PM
       PST THIS EVENING...
&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 23, 9:16 AM PST, 8 hours 44 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
916 AM PST WED MAR 23 2005

CAZ013>019-063-064-066>069-241500-
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-
916 AM PST WED MAR 23 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR INTERIOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

UPPER LOW OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WILL CAUSE NUMEROUS SHOWERS
OVER THE INTERIOR OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA TODAY. AN ADDITIONAL 4 TO 7
INCHES OF SNOW IS FORECAST OVER THE WEST SLOPE OF THE SIERRA NEVADA
THROUGH THIS EVENING...WHILE THE MOTHERLODE IS EXPECTED TO RECEIVE 2
TO 4 INCHES OF SNOW THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. AFTERNOON
THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE OVER PORTIONS OF THE COASTAL RANGE...THE
SACRAMENTO VALLEY...NORTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...AND SIERRA NEVADA
FOOTHILLS. SOME OF THE STORMS MAY PRODUCE SMALL HAIL.

* SNOW ADVISORY..............SEE WWUS46 KSTO - WSWSTO FOR DETAILS *

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.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

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 23, 5:57 PM PST, 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
557 PM PST WED MAR 23 2005

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0535 PM     HAIL             ORLAND                  39.75N 122.19W
03/23/2005  0.75 INCH        GLENN              CA   NWS SPOTTER

0540 PM     HAIL             CORNING                 39.93N 122.18W
03/23/2005  0.75 INCH        TEHAMA             CA   NWS SPOTTER

0549 PM     HAIL             3 N CORNING             39.97N 122.18W
03/23/2005  1.00 INCH        TEHAMA             CA   NWS SPOTTER

&&

CRS

The radar

The Beale AFB radar (KBBX), 66 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:00 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Tehama

When: March 23, 6:00 PM PST
Where: Tehama County, Corning
Measured: 0.01 in hail
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.917, -122.183

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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, March 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: 5478650.