Clear skies and light winds over the Sacramento Valley allowed temperatures in several locations to drop to record levels on the morning of the 24th.
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.
The episode as NWS STO wrote it up.
Clear skies and light winds over the Sacramento Valley allowed temperatures in several locations to drop to record levels on the morning of the 24th.
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 Apr 23, 8:00 PM PST, 4 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA 900 PM PDT WED APR 23 2008 .DISCUSSION... ISOLATED SHOWERS OVER THE EASTERN PORTION OF THE AREA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...MAINLY NORTH OF HIGHWAY 50 WITH A PIECE OF ENERGY MOVING THROUGH THE TROUGH OVER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPED THIS AFTERNOON AROUND 330 PM NEAR WHITMORE. THE TROUGH MOVES TO THE EAST OVERNIGHT TONIGHT BRINGING AN END TO THE SHOWER ACTIVITY OVER THE LASSEN PARK AREA AND FAR NORTHERN SIERRA. TEMPERATURES WILL BE COOLER TONIGHT WITH CLEARER SKIES AND A LITTLE COOLER AIR MASS. A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN BEHIND THE TROUGH BRINGING WARMER TEMPERATURES TOMORROW. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO WARM OVER THE WEEKEND WITH A RIDGE OVER THE AREA AND 850 MB TEMPERATURES RISING TO AROUND 16 DEGREES. A COOLING TREND IS EXPECTED FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVING OVER THE WEST COAST. THIS TROUGH WILL BRING A SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY. && .AVIATION... UPPER LEVEL TROUGH IS MOVING TO THE EAST OF THE AREA TONIGHT BRINGING CLEAR SKIES AND DIMINISHING THE MOUNTAIN SHOWERS. VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED IN THE VALLEY THROUGH TOMORROW WITH HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING OVER THE AREA. MVFR CONDITIONS WITH AREAS OF IFR/LIFR CONDITIONS OVER THE LASSEN PARK AREA AND THE SIERRA UNTIL 10Z. VFR CONDITIONS WITH SUNNY SKIES ARE EXPECTED TO PREVAIL ACROSS INTERIOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA DURING THE DAY THURSDAY. && .STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA 700 AM PDT WED APR 23 2008 CAZ013>019-063-064-066>069-241400- 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- 700 AM PDT WED APR 23 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR INTERIOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET AT (LOWER CASE): HTTP://WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/STO
2 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
The low temperature at Redding Airport was 32 degrees, which broke the old daily low temperature record of 33 degrees set at the airport and at the old city station in 1974. The low temperature at the Red Bluff airport dropped to 35 degrees, which tied the previous daily low temperature record set in 1964.
The low temperature at Sacramento Executive Airport dropped to 36 degrees, which tied the daily low temperature record set in 1964.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in California, April 2008
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: 88191, 88193.