Winter Storm and Strong Wind in California, March 20 to 21, 2006

Name: Winter Storm and Strong Wind in California, March 20 to 21, 2006
Start: 2006-03-20T12:00
End: 2006-03-21T16:00
Location: California

March 20 to 21, 2006 · NWS HNX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

New snowfall in the Southern Sierra Nevada varied from 18" at Graveyard Meadow to 12" at Yosemite Valley and Huntington Lake. In the Tulare County Mountains, 8" fell at Lodgepole with 15" reported at Giant Forest, Quaking Aspen, and Big Meadows. On the East-Central San Joaquin Valley floor, rain and windy conditions contributed to at least separate vehicle accidents from just north of Madera to 10 miles southeast. The gusty wind downed trees, including a large tree in downtown Madera just before 3 PM PST on the 20th.

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 Mar 20, 8:45 AM PST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 8:45 AM PST, 3 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
845 AM PST MON MAR 20 2006

.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...REGIONAL DOPPLER
RADAR PLOTS SHOW MUCH OF THIS MORNINGS PRECIP NORTH OF THE DISTRICT.
THE COLD FRONTAL ZONE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS PRECIP WAS STILL WELL OFF
THE CALIFORNIA COAST AND ADVANCING SOUTHEAST TODAY. CURRENT TIMING
IS TO HAVE THIS COLD FRONT PUSH INTO THE DISTRICT CLOSER TO 4 PM AS
SOUTHERLY WINDS PICK UP AHEAD OF THE FRONT. YET...WILL NOT EXPECT
WINDS TO REACH MORE THEN 10 TO 15 MPH THIS AFTERNOON AS MODEL
SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS FROM SFO TO LAS ONLY REACH NEAR 4.0MB.
FURTHERMORE...AS THE COLD FRONT ENTERS THE DISTRICT...MODELS BEGIN
SPREADING PVA ENERGY INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA NEAR THE ONSET OF
PRECIP. STRONGER VORT MAX ENERGY WILL THEN MOVE INTO THE REGION
DURING THE EARLY EVENING AS PRECIP POTENTIAL BECOMES HIGHER. TIMING
WISE...PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN OVER MERCED AND MARIPOSA
COUNTIES NEAR NOON AND SPREAD SOUTHEAST INTO SOUTHERN KINGS AND
TULARE COUNTIES BY THIS AFTERNOON. SIGNIFICANT RAIN WILL PROBABLY
NOT REACH KERN COUNTY UNTIL AFTER 4 PM AS THIS WILL BE THE TIME
WHEN THE VORT MAX IS WELL ESTABLISHED OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA.
ACROSS THE VALLEY...WHILE THE CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL REMAINS LOW
TODAY...MODELS STILL PLACE CAPE VALUES OF 100 TO 200 J/KG OVER THE
NORTH END OF THE VALLEY ALONG THE LI/S JUST REACHING THE ZERO MARK.
WILL ADD A MENTION OF AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS FOR TODAY. ACROSS THE
SIERRA NEVADA...THE LATEST QPF INDICATES THAT WINTER STORM WARNING
CRITERIA WILL LIKELY BE MET IN ZONE 96 FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON
WITH AS MUCH AS 30 INCHES OF SNOW POSSIBLE BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON.
LOOKING FARTHER SOUTH...UP TO 15 INCHES OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE TONIGHT
AND TUESDAY IN THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS AS ONLY WEAK VORT MAX
ENERGY WILL EXTEND THAT FAR SOUTH. THEREFORE...HAVE ISSUED A WINTER
STORM WARNING FOR ZONE 96 AND A SNOW ADVISORY FOR ZONE 97. IN THE
FOOTHILLS...THIS SYSTEM APPEARS TO HAVE JUST ENOUGH COLD AIR FOR A
THREAT OF LIGHT SNOW NEAR THE 3500 FOOT LEVEL BY EARLY TUESDAY.

&&

.AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED EARLY TODAY...BUT EXPECT
CEILINGS TO LOWER TO MVFR AS THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM APPROACHES DURING
THE DAY. VISIBILITIES MAY BE REDUCED TO MVFR CONDITIONS AS WELL IN
RAIN. SOME LOCAL IFR CONDITIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON DUE
TO LOW CEILINGS...ESPECIALLY OVER HIGHER TERRAIN. FOR SPECIFIC
DETAILS...PLEASE REFER TO TAFS FOR KMCE...KFAT AND KBFL.

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
     WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA...FROM
     YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON...FROM NOON TODAY THROUGH 4 PM
     TUESDAY.

     SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS FROM 4 PM TODAY
     THROUGH 4 PM TUESDAY.

&&

WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD /USE ALL LOWER CASE/

MOLINA

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 20, 5:00 AM PST, 7 hours before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
500 AM PST MON MAR 20 2006

CAZ096-211300-
SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-
500 AM PST MON MAR 20 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA
FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 4 PM PST TUESDAY.
PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE /WWUS46 KHNX...
SFOWSWHNX/ FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

THE WINTER STORM WARNING WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM PST
TUESDAY.

AFTER 4 PM PST TUESDAY...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.

CAZ097-211300-
TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
500 AM PST MON MAR 20 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A SNOW ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 4 PM PST
TUESDAY. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE /WWUS46
KHNX/ FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

THE SNOW ADVISORY WILL CONTINUE UNTIL 4 PM PST TUESDAY.

AFTER 4 PM TUESDAY...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.

CAZ089>095-098-099-211300-
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-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-
SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
500 AM PST MON MAR 20 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN
JOAQUIN VALLEY...THE SIERRA NEVADA FOOTHILLS...AND THE KERN COUNTY
MOUNTAINS AND DESERT.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

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.

MORSE

Event by event

1 winter storm, 1 strong wind, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, S Sierra Mtns

When: March 20, 12:00 PM PST to March 21, 7:00 AM PST
Where: S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Strong Wind, E Central S.J. Valley

When: March 20, 2:45 PM PST to 4:00 PM PST
Where: E Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Measured: 40 kt (46 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Winter Weather, Tulare Cty Mtns

When: March 20, 4:00 PM PST to March 21, 4:00 PM 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.
Strong Wind: Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.
Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

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, March 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5499052, 5499054, 5499053.