Winter Weather, S Sierra Mtns
- When
- March 1, 4:00 PM PST to March 2, 10:00 PM PST
- Where
- S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
- Reported by
- Mesonet
Winter Storm and Winter Weather in California, March 1 to 4, 2009
March began with an upper-level low off the California coast. Strong warming in the south end of the San Joaquin Valley gave Bakersfield a record high of 86 degrees, which almost was the warmest day of the month at Meadows Field.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- 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.
March began with an upper-level low off the California coast. Strong warming in the south end of the San Joaquin Valley gave Bakersfield a record high of 86 degrees, which almost was the warmest day of the month at Meadows Field. The low drew subtropical moisture into interior central California from the southwest, bringing rain and high-elevation snow to the region. In Yosemite National Park, a foot of new snow fell at Tuolumne Meadows during the night of March 2nd-3rd.|Colder air moved into the region during the 3rd as a slow moving cold front dropped south. The high at Fresno dropped from 67 on the 3rd to only 59 on the 4th, and Bakersfield’s high fell 13 degrees from 74 on the 3rd to only 61 the next day. More snow fell over the Southern Sierra Nevada beginning the night of March 3rd and continuing through the 4th. Estimated snowfalls at SNOTEL sites ranged from 15 inches to around 2 feet. With a cold, unstable airmass over the San Joaquin Valley, conditions were right for thunderstorms to form over the west side of the San Joaquin Valley during the afternoon and evening of March 4th.|The trough pulled east of California during the morning of March 7th. This system brought the bulk of March’s precipitation to central California, with Fresno having a storm total of 0.18 inch, and Bakersfield receiving 0.20 inch. With the moist lower levels of the airmass over the San Joaquin Valley, patchy fog developed during the morning hours of the 7th.
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 1, 2:50 PM PST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 1, 2:50 PM PST, 1 hour 10 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 250 PM PST SUN MAR 1 2009 .DISCUSSION...VERY IMPRESSIVE WEATHER DISTURBANCE CONTINUES TO SPIN OFF THE PACIFIC COAST NEAR 44N/136W. WHILE SURFACE ANALYSIS THE CENTRAL PRESSURE AT AROUND 976MB...THE AMOUNT OF WRAP-AROUND OF THE LOW SHOULD SUGGEST AN EVEN DEEPER LOW MOVING NORTHEAST TOWARD WASHINGTON STATE/BRITISH COLUMBIA IN THE NEXT DAY OR TWO. SURFACE COLD FRONT REMAINS OFF SHORE TODAY WITH WARM SECTOR PRECIP...MAINLY NORTH OF THE DISTRICT. CURRENT TREND IS TO HAVE THE COLD FRONT MOVE FURTHER INTO THE DISTRICT THIS EVENING WITH PRECIP BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD DURING THE REST OF THE NIGHT. AT THE UPPER LEVELS...700MB ANALYSIS INDICATES FAIRLY STRONG SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST FLOW...DRIVING PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES OF GREATER THEN ONE INCH SURGING TOWARD NORTHERN/CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. LATEST SHORT RANGE MODEL PROGS SHOW THE FIRST OF SEVERAL VORT LOBES PUSHING THROUGH THE DISTRICT THIS EVENING. THIS VORT LOBE WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE COLD FRONT AND SHOULD FINALLY ALLOW SIGNIFICANT PRECIP OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. SNOW LEVELS WILL REMAIN HIGH TONIGHT WITH SNOW LEVELS NEAR 7500 FEET AND HEAVIER SNOW FALL ABOVE 8000 FEET. THIS WILL BE THE RESULTS OF THE STRONG SOUTHERLY FLOW ALOFT ADVECTING WARM AIR AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT. YET...ONCE THE COLD FRONT PASSES THROUGH THE AREA...SNOW LEVELS WILL LOWER TO LEVELS ABOVE 5000 FEET. THEREFORE...WILL KEEP THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT TONIGHT AND MOST OF THE MEASURABLE SNOWFALL EXPECTED ON MONDAY. THE SECOND PIECE OF ENERGY WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA LATER ON TUESDAY WITH ANOTHER ROUND OF PRECIP FROM TUESDAY EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY. WHILE THE SECOND STORM WILL ALSO BE SIGNIFICANT... AMOUNTS MAY BE SIMILAR TO THIS FIRST EVENT BUT UNDER A COLDER AIRMASS. BEYOND THE SHORT TERM...MODELS ARE STILL HAVING A DIFFICULT TIME RESOLVING THE STORM TOWARD THE END OF THE WEEK. DUE TO HIGH MODEL UNCERTAINTY...EVEN AMONG THE ENSEMBLES...WILL KEEP CHANCES OF PRECIP LOW AND REMAIN NEAR CLIMO VALUES. && .AVIATION...MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE UNDER BROKEN MID AND HIGH CLOUDS ACROSS MOST OF INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM. THE SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE CLOSER TO THE NORTH CALIFORNIA COAST...SPREADING AREAS OF MVFR CONDITIONS IN RAIN AND HIGHER ELEVATION SNOW ACROSS INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AFTER 06Z MONDAY. NORTH SECTORS OF THE REGION NEAR MERCED AND YOSEMITE WILL SEE CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION FIRST. THEN LOWERING CLOUDS AND RAIN WILL SPREAD SOUTHWARD THROUGH TONIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING. PRECIPITATION AND MOUNTAIN OBSCURATION ALONG THE SIERRA WILL BECOME LIKELY BY 06Z MONDAY AND RAIN ACROSS THE CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY BY 12Z MONDAY...SPREADING OVER THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS BY 18Z MONDAY AND CONTINUING ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH AT LEAST 00Z TUESDAY. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES...NONE. && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO 4 PM PST MONDAY FOR SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON /CAZ096/. && PUBLIC...MOLINA AVN/FW...JEB WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 1, 3:12 AM PST, 12 hours 48 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 312 AM PST SUN MAR 1 2009 CAZ096-021200- SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON- 312 AM PST SUN MAR 1 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON FROM 10 PM PST TONIGHT UNTIL 4 PM PST MONDAY AFTERNOON. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HANFORD AT /SFOWSWHNX/ OR /WWUS46 KHNX/ FOR MORE DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON UNTIL 4 PM PST MONDAY AFTERNOON. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HANFORD AT /SFOWSWHNX/ OR /WWUS46 KHNX/ FOR MORE DETAILS. OTHERWISE NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT OR UNUSUAL CONDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. BSO WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
Event by event
2 winter storm, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Winter Storm, S Sierra Mtns
- When
- March 3, 4:00 PM PST to March 4, 4:00 PM PST
- Where
- S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
- Reported by
- Mesonet
Winter Storm, Tulare Cty Mtns
- When
- March 3, 4:00 PM PST to March 4, 4:00 PM PST
- Where
- Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
- Reported by
- Mesonet
What these are
- Winter Weather
- Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.
- Winter Storm
- A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in North Carolina, March 1 to 2, 2009
- Winter Storm in Maryland, March 1 to 2, 2009
- Heavy Snow in New York, March 1 to 2, 2009
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Georgia, March 1 to 2, 2009
- Winter Storm in Missouri, March 1, 2009
- Drought in Texas, March 1 to 31, 2009
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, March 1 to 2, 2009
- Winter Storm in Delaware, March 1 to 2, 2009
- Flash Flood and Winter Storm in California, March 1 to 4, 2009
- Drought in Texas, March 1 to 31, 2009
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in New Jersey, March 1 to 2, 2009
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Tennessee, March 1, 2009
More
Every storm in California in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in California, March 2009
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: 162275, 162276, 162277.