The first of two winter storms brought heavy snow and strong gusty winds to the mountains.
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 heavy snow and strong gusty winds to the mountains.
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 4, 9:00 AM PST, 10 hours earlier.
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</html>5 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
The snow level dropped to near 2000 feet. A foot of snow fell as low as 5000 feet and up to two feet of snow fell above 7000 feet. Wind gusts reached 50 mph.
The snow level dropped to near 2500 feet. A foot of snow fell as low as 5000 feet and up to two feet of snow fell above 7000 feet. Wind gusts reached 50 mph.
The snow level dropped as low as 1500 feet but the significant snowfall was above 3000 feet. Wind gusts reached 45 mph.
The snow level dropped as low as 1500 feet but the significant snowfall was above 3000 feet where eight to fifteen inches of snow fell. Wind gusts reached 45 mph.
The snow level dropped to the basin floor with up to a foot and a half of snow falling at the higher elevations. Wind gusts reached 45 mph.
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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 111580, 111581, 111577, 111578, 111579.