California, 2006

Heavy Snow in California, December 21 to 22, 2006

December 21 to 22, 2006 · NWS HNX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A Pacific storm system moved across the Southern Sierra Nevada the evening of the 2st through early the morning of the 22nd. Snowfall amounts varied from 16 inches (Volcanic Knob, elevation 10,050 ft msl) north of Kings Canyon NP, to 7 inches further south (Lodgepole, elevation 6735 ft msl).

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 Pacific storm system moved across the Southern Sierra Nevada the evening of the 2st through early the morning of the 22nd. Snowfall amounts varied from 16 inches (Volcanic Knob, elevation 10,050 ft msl) north of Kings Canyon NP, to 7 inches further south (Lodgepole, elevation 6735 ft msl).

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 21, 2:45 PM PST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 21, 2:45 PM PST, 1 hour 15 minutes before
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Event by event

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, S Sierra Mtns

When
December 21, 4:00 PM PST to December 22, 5:00 AM PST
Where
S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet

Heavy Snow, Tulare Cty Mtns

When
December 21, 4:00 PM PST to December 22, 5:00 AM PST
Where
Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet

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 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 2006

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: 6531, 6532.