Heavy Snow in California, March 3 to 4, 2009

Name: Heavy Snow in California, March 3 to 4, 2009
Start: 2009-03-03T16:30
End: 2009-03-04T10:00
Location: California

March 3 to 4, 2009 · NWS MFR · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A brief but intense snowstorm struck Northern California on this date. The heaviest snow fell in the Mt.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 MFR wrote it up.

A brief but intense snowstorm struck Northern California on this date. The heaviest snow fell in the Mt. Shasta area from late afternoon to late evening on 03/03/09.

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 Medford, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 3, 2:52 PM PST, 1 hour 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 3, 2:52 PM PST, 1 hour 38 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
252 PM PST TUE MAR 3 2009

.DISCUSSION...A LARGE AND PERSISTENT UPPER LOW WILL CONTINUE TO
BRING PRECIPITATION TO THE CWA TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY. A SERIES
OF IMPULSES WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA WHICH WILL LEAD TO A NET
INCREASE IN RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. THE FIRST LOCATED NEAR 39 N AND
128 W WILL MOVE INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA EARLY THIS EVENING. A
SECOND IMPULSE IS EXPECTED TO MOVE IN EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. A
COLD POCKET AT 500 MB WITH WITH TEMPERATURES NEAR -32 C WILL ALSO
MOVE INTO THE REGION EARLY THIS EVENING AND THIS ALONG WITH SOME
CLEARING WILL ALLOW FOR SUFFICIENT INSTABILITY FOR ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING.

THE UPPER LOW WILL REMAIN OFF THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST
WEDNESDAY ALONG WITH WEAK SHORTWAVES MOVING THROUGH WHICH WILL
KEEP THE POTENTIAL FOR SCATTERED RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS HIGH.

THE UPPER LOW WILL SLOWLY MOVE SOUTH WEDNESDAY NIGHT LEADING TO A
DECREASE IN SHOWER ACTIVITY. THE GFS...ECMWF...NAM AND CANADIAN
ARE ALL COMING INTO AGREEMENT WITH THE NEXT INCOMING SHORTWAVE
THURSDAY NIGHT. THE SHORTWAVE IS EXPECTED TO TRACK INTO NORTHEAST
WASHINGTON THURSDAY NIGHT...THEN INTO EASTERN OREGON FRIDAY.
THEREFORE THE HIGHEST POPS SHOULD BE ALONG AND EAST OF THE
CASCADES...BUT WELL KEEP SLIGHT TO CHANCE POPS WEST OF THE
CASCADES.

AFTER FRIDAY...THE GFS AND ECMWF SUGGEST A PROGRESSIVE PATTERN WILL
CONTINUE INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. A SHORTWAVE RIDGE WILL MOVE INTO
THE AREA FRIDAY NIGHT...FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER SHORTWAVE TROUGH
SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY. A NORTH TO NORTHWEST FLOW WILL SET UP
BY EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH WEAK SHORTWAVES MOVING THROUGH. BY
WEDNESDAY THE GFS...ECMWF AND ENSEMBLE MEANS SHOW THE RIDGE AXIS
SHIFTING FURTHER EAST AND ALL SUGGEST THE LONG WAVE PATTERN MAY
CHANGE SOME WITH THE RIDGE AXIS SHIFTING EAST

&&

.AVIATION...MVFR WITH AREAS OF IFR IN SHOWERS THIS EVENING. IFR
WILL BECOME MORE PREVALENT OVERNIGHT TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY
MORNING WITH SHOWERS AND CIGS EXPECTED TO DECREASE. VISIBILITY
WILL BE AN ISSUE IN SHOWERS TONIGHT...ESPECIALLY NEAR KLMT WHERE
VIS COULD LOWER BETWEEN 1 AND 2 MILES IN SHOWERS.

&&

.MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 10 AM PST
     WEDNESDAY FOR ORZ024.

CA...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 10 AM PST
     WEDNESDAY FOR CAZ080-CAZ081-CAZ082-CAZ083.

PACIFIC COASTAL WATERS...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS UNTIL 7 PM
     PST THIS EVENING FOR PZZ350-PZZ356-PZZ370-PZZ376.
     SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING
     TO 4 PM PST WEDNESDAY FOR PZZ350-PZZ356-PZZ370-PZZ376.
     HAZARDOUS SEAS WARNING UNTIL 7 PM PST THIS EVENING FOR PZZ350-
     PZZ356-PZZ370-PZZ376.

PETRUCELLI

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 3, 4:17 AM PST, 12 hours 13 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
417 AM PST TUE MAR 3 2009

CAZ080-082-083-040015-
WESTERN SISKIYOU COUNTY-SOUTH CENTRAL SISKIYOU COUNTY-
NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST SISKIYOU COUNTY-
417 AM PST TUE MAR 3 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ABOVE 3500
FEET IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM PST TODAY. SEE WEATHER MESSAGE FOR
MORE SPECIFIC DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 3, 10:47 AM PST, 5 hours 43 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
1047 AM PST TUE MAR 03 2009

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1041 AM     SNOW             11 SSE SPRAGUE RIVER    42.30N 121.41W
03/03/2009  M3.0 INCH        KLAMATH            OR   TRAINED SPOTTER

            12-HOUR TOTAL. STILL SNOW LIGHT TO MODERATE.

&&

SPILDE

Local storm report, Mar 3, 2:33 PM PST, 1 hour 57 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
233 PM PST TUE MAR 03 2009

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0232 PM     HEAVY RAIN       5 SE CAVE JUNCTION      42.11N 123.58W
03/03/2009  M1.23 INCH       JOSEPHINE          OR   TRAINED SPOTTER

            24 HR TOTAL ENDING 230 PM.

&&

HOLTZ

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, South Central Siskiyou County

When: March 3, 4:30 PM PST to March 4, 10:00 AM PST
Where: South Central Siskiyou County forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 41.593, -122.540 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Mt. Shasta City cooperative observer reported 11.0 inches of snow in 24 hours ending at 03/2300 PST. A spotter 1S Mt. Shasta City reported 8 inches of snow in 12 hours ending at 03/2100 PST, then another 7 inches accumulation between 03/1800 and 04/0700 PST. There was some overlap in those two observations. A spotter ESE Mt. Shasta City reported 11 inches of snow in six hours ending at 03/2230 PST. A spotter 4 SSW Weed reported 9 inches of snow in 5 hours ending at 03/2300 PST. A spotter 4 SW Weed reported 7.5 inches of snow in 12 hours ending at 04/0500 PST. A spotter 6 NW Mt. Shasta City reported 12 inches in 24 hours ending at 04/0500 PST, most of which fell after 03/1600 PST. A spotter 3 NW Mt. Shasta City reported 13.0 inches of snow in 12 hours ending at 04/0600 PST, most of which fell between 03/1800 and 03/2300 PST.

Heavy Snow, North Central & Southeast Siskiyou County

When: March 3, 4:30 PM PST to March 4, 10:00 AM PST
Where: North Central & Southeast Siskiyou County forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 41.593, -122.540 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Based on snowfall reports in adjacent zone CAZ082 and rainfall reports in CAZ083, it is assumed that Heavy Snow Warning criteria was met in zone CAZ083 above 3500 feet.

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

Every storm in California in 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 149251, 156182.