California, 2006

Heavy Snow in California, March 28, 2006

March 28, 2006 · NWS REV · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A powerful winter storm dumped up to 3 feet of snow in the higher elevations of the central Sierra Nevada.Storm total snowfall amounts:Kirkwood Ski Resort 20 inchesSierra-at-Tahoe Ski Resort 20 inchesHomewood Ski Resort (7900 ft.) 18 inches (6250 ft.) 10 inchesSugar Bowl Ski Resort 16 inchesAlpine…

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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

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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 REV wrote it up.

A powerful winter storm dumped up to 3 feet of snow in the higher elevations of the central Sierra Nevada.Storm total snowfall amounts:Kirkwood Ski Resort 20 inchesSierra-at-Tahoe Ski Resort 20 inchesHomewood Ski Resort (7900 ft.) 18 inches (6250 ft.) 10 inchesSugar Bowl Ski Resort 16 inchesAlpine Meadows Ski Resort 12 inchesNorthstar-at-Tahoe Ski Resort 12 inchesSquaw Valley Ski Resort (8200 ft.) 8 inches (6200 ft.) 4 inchesSouth Lake Tahoe 7 inches

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 Reno, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 28, 2:05 PM PST, 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 28, 2:05 PM PST, 55 minutes before
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In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 28, 2:34 PM PST, 26 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Greater Lake Tahoe Area

When
March 28, 3:00 PM PST to 9:00 PM PST
Where
Greater Lake Tahoe Area forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
38.935, -120.458 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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, 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5493546.