The first of two winter storms brought a moderate amount of snow and gusty winds to the mountains. For most locations, the storm concluded by the end of the day but for the West Slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Motherlode it extended into the next day and therefore into the February Storm Data submission.
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.
The first of two winter storms brought a moderate amount of snow and gusty winds to the mountains. For most locations, the storm concluded by the end of the day but for the West Slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Motherlode it extended into the next day and therefore into the February Storm Data submission.
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 Jan 30, 9:00 PM PST, 6 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA 900 PM PST WED JAN 30 2008 .DISCUSSION... MINOR SHORT-WAVE RIDGING HAS YIELDED A PLEASANT EVENING ACROSS THE INTERIOR OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA IN ADVANCE OF THE NEXT SYSTEM THAT IS POISED TO MOVE INTO THE REGION TONIGHT. ONLY REPORT OF ANY SNOW AT THIS TIME WAS A SPOTTER REPORT OF SNOW AT SIMS IN SHASTA COUNTY. REMAINDER OF THE REGION IS EITHER TOO COLD TO REPORT ANY PRECIP OR IT SIMPLY HASNT STARTED YET. THE LATEST 88D DOPPLER AND SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATES A BLOB OF MOISTURE WILL SPREAD THROUGH THE NORTH MOUNTAINS WITHIN THE NEXT FEW HOURS. THE WINDS HAVE NOT STARTED TO PICK UP YET WITH THIS SYSTEM, BUT THE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT IS ALREADY STEEPENING WITH NEARLY SIX 1/2 MILLIBARS FROM MEDFORD DOWN TO REDDING AT THIS HOUR. CURRENT FORECAST PACKAGES, AS WELL AS THE WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES, HANDLE THIS WELL. SEE NO NEED FOR UPDATES AT THIS TIME. RANDY HARTLEY .PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... SUNNY SKIES AND MILDER TEMPERATURES DEVELOPED UNDER WEAK HIGH PRESSURE TODAY. COOLER AIR REMAINS TRAPPED IN THE NORTHERN SACRAMENTO VALLEY AND NORTHERN MOUNTAINS HOWEVER. 2 MORE STORMS WILL AFFECT OUR REGION-ONE TOMORROW-TOMORROW NIGHT & ANOTHER SATURDAY/SATURDAY NIGHT. SHOWERS WILL REDEVELOP IN THE REDDING AREA AFTER MIDNIGHT...THEN SPREAD SOUTH TO SACRAMENTO BY COMMUTE TIME AND INTO STOCKTON BY 7 AM. INCREASING CLOUDS SHOULD MITIGATE FOG CONCERNS...THOUGH PATCHES ARE POSSIBLE BEFORE THE SUN RISES. THE COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH SACRAMENTO BETWEEN 4 PM AND 10 PM WITH A PERIOD OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SHOWERS AND GUSTY SOUTH WINDS OF 15-25 MPH. INITIAL PRECIPITATION ESTIMATES RANGE FROM 3/4 AT STOCKTON/MODESTO TO 1 1/2 IN THE NORTHERN SACRAMENTO VALLEY AND EASTERN FOOTHILLS. IN THE MOUNTAINS THIS SYSTEM WILL HAVE BETTER OROGRAPHICS...DEEPER MOISTURE TO WORK WITH AND GOOD DYNAMICS. THE ONE LIMITING FACTOR WILL AGAIN BE THE FACT THAT THE STORM IS A RELATIVELY QUICK MOVER. WE HAVE ISSUED WINTER STORM WARNINGS FOR THE LASSEN PARK/PLUMAS COUNTY AND THE WEST SLOPES OF THE SIERRA ZONES FROM EARLY TOMORROW MORNING THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. TWO TO THREE FEET OF NEW SNOW MAY FALL ABOVE 7000 FEET WITH THIS STORM. SNOW LEVELS WILL BE HIGHER...SO THE FOOTHILLS WILL ONLY HAVE AN ADVISORY FOR THE EAST SACRAMENTO HILLS CLOSER TO THE TRAPPED COLD AIR. SNOW LEVELS WILL BE FROM NEAR 2500 FEET THERE TO 3000 FEET IN THE MOTHERLODE...AND NO ADVISORY IS NEEDED THERE. THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS WILL ALSO HAVE WARNINGS FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY MORNING...AS WELL AS IN THE BURNEY BASIN. PARTIAL CLEARING IS EXPECTED BEHIND THE FRONT TOMORROW NIGHT INTO FRIDAY. WEAK CYCLONIC FLOW IN PLACE FRIDAY MAY GENERATE SOME INSTABILITY SHOWERS ACROSS THE REGION...WITH THE SNOW LEVELS DROPPING BACK TO 1000 TO 1500 FEET IN THE FOOTHILLS. .PREVIOUS EXTENDED DISCUSSION... OVER THE WEEKEND ANOTHER STORM WILL MOVE INTO NORCAL BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON SPREADING SHOWERS SOUTHWARD ACROSS THE ENTIRE CWA BY SAT NIGHT. LATEST GFS RUN INDICATES THAT HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION WILL FALL BETWEEN LATE SAT NIGHT THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. THIS SYSTEM NOT EXPECTED TO BE AS COLD AS EARLIER STORMS WITH SNOW LEVEL AROUND 2000 FEET. THE TROUGH AXIS PUSHES EASTWARD OVER THE GREAT BASIN BY SUNDAY EVENING CAUSING SHOWERS TO DIMINISH AS RIDGING BEGINS TO BUILD IN BEHIND THE TROUGH OVER THE WEST COAST. THIS SETS UP A BIT OF A DRY SPELL FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE WEEK. BY LATE TUES INTO EARLY WED THE RIDGE FLATTENS AS YET ANOTHER SYSTEM COULD SKIRT NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WITH ANOTHER SHOT OF SHOWERY CONDITIONS MIDWEEK. && .AVIATION... GENERALLY VFR CONDS IN THE CWA EXCEPT FOR AREAS OF MVFR IN THE FAR NORTHERN SAC VALLEY AND LOCAL IFR CONDS IN THE COASTAL/SIERRA MTNS. SNOW LEVELS DROPPING AS LOW AS FL010 IN NORTHERN SAC VALLEY OVERNIGHT. MODERATE NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALF WILL BECOME STRONG WESTERLY FLOW BY 18Z TOMORROW MORNING. VALLEY WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO BE LIGHT SOUTHERLY STRENGTHENING AFTER 12Z WITH PEAK WINDS 10-20 KTS GUSTING UP TO 25 KTS FROM 15-00Z. RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS MOVING INTO NORTH SAC VALLEY AFTER 06Z THU MORNING. RAIN SHOWERS WILL SPREAD SOUTHWARD REACHING SAC METRO AROUND 21Z MOVING TOWARDS STOCKTON AROUND 00Z. && .STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ...WINTER STORM WARNING FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO MIDNIGHT PST THURSDAY NIGHT FOR MOUNTAINS SOUTHWESTERN SHASTA COUNTY TO NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY ...SHASTA LAKE AREA/NORTHERN SHASTA COUNTY. ...WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 2 AM THURSDAY TO 4 AM PST FRIDAY FOR THE BURNEY BASIN/EASTERN SHASTA COUNTY...WESTERN PLUMAS COUNTY/LASSEN PARK. ...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY FROM 2 AM THURSDAY TO 4 AM PST FRIDAY FOR NORTHEAST FOOTHILLS OF THE NORTHERN SACRAMENTO VALLEY. ...WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 6 AM THURSDAY TO 7 AM PST FRIDAY FOR WEST SLOPE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA 700 AM PST WED JAN 30 2008 CAZ013>019-063-064-066>069-311500- 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 PST WED JAN 30 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR INTERIOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY A COLD PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL BE MOVING INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA TONIGHT BRINGING MOUNTAIN SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS TO THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS. * WINTER STORM WATCH.........SEE WWUS46 KSTO - WSWSTO FOR DETAILS * .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THE PACIFIC FRONTAL SYSTEM MOVING INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WEDNESDAY NIGHT WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA ON THURSDAY BRINGING HEAVY SNOWFALL AND STRONG WINDS TO THE MOUNTAINS. MAINLY DRY DAYS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WILL BE FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER ROUND OF RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW ON SATURDAY NIGHT OR SUNDAY. * WINTER STORM WATCH.........SEE WWUS46 KSTO - WSWSTO FOR DETAILS * .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET AT (LOWER CASE): HTTP://WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/STO
7 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Snow levels were near 1000 feet with four to ten inches of snow at the lower levels. Above 4000 feet, ten to twenty inches of snow fell. Winds gusted to 45 mph.
Snow levels were near 1000 feet with four to ten inches of snow at the lower levels. Above 4000 feet, ten to twenty inches of snow fell. Winds gusted to 45 mph.
Snow levels were near 2000 feet with four to ten inches of snow at the lower levels. Above 4000 feet, ten to twenty-five inches of snow fell. Winds gusted to 45 mph.
Four to ten inches of snow fell near 3000 feet with ten to twenty-five inches of snow falling above 4000 feet. Winds gusted to 45 mph.
Four to ten inches of snow fell near 3000 feet with ten to twenty inches falling at the higher elevations. Wind gusts were up to 45 mph. This storm event is carried into the February Storm Data entry.
Snow levels were near 2000 feet with four to eight inches falling in some locations. Southerly wind gusts were up to 30 mph.
Snow levels were near 2500 feet with four to eight inches falling in some locations. Southerly wind gusts were up to 30 mph. This storm event is carried into the February Storm Data entry.
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, January 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: 111623, 111624, 111625, 111626, 111629, 111627, 111628.