Winter Storm in California, January 17 to 18, 2006

Name: Winter Storm in California, January 17 to 18, 2006
Start: 2006-01-17T20:00
End: 2006-01-18T17:30
Location: California

January 17 to 18, 2006 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Snowfall at the highest elevations of the Southern Sierra Nevada ranged from 20 inches at Tenaya Lake to 15" at Lower Kibbie Ridge late on the 17th and early on the 18th.

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 HNX wrote it up.

Snowfall at the highest elevations of the Southern Sierra Nevada ranged from 20 inches at Tenaya Lake to 15" at Lower Kibbie Ridge late on the 17th and early on the 18th.

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 Jan 17, 2:15 PM PST, 5 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 17, 2:15 PM PST, 5 hours 45 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 17, 4:41 AM PST, 15 hours 19 minutes before

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Event by event

1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, S Sierra Mtns

When: January 17, 8:00 PM PST to January 18, 5:30 PM PST
Where: S Sierra 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.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in California, January 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: 5492046.