April began with an upper-level trough moving through interior central California. Rain and mountain snow showers continued into the 2nd, before the next storm arrived.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 HNX wrote it up.
April began with an upper-level trough moving through interior central California. Rain and mountain snow showers continued into the 2nd, before the next storm arrived. This next storm reached the region during the evening of April 4th, and continued into the next day. The cold front moved quickly through interior central California, but in its wake, a pool of cold, unstable air settled over the San Joaquin Valley and adjacent mountains. A late-morning ice-pellet shower fell on Hanford, and small hail fell on parts of central Madera, Fresno and Tulare counties during the afternoon. The snow level dropped as low as 2500 feet during the morning of April 4th, with snow falling on some Sierra Nevada foothill communities, including Oakhurst (which reported up to 3 inch accumulations) and Springville. Some road closures and delays were reported in the foothills. In the central and southern San Joaquin Valley, storm total rainfalls ranged from 0.83 inch at Merced to a mere 0.08 inch at Bakersfield. In the Southern Sierra Nevada, 20 inches of snow fell at Lodgepole, and new snow accumulations were estimated at as much as 29 inches in the high country. Further south, 3.5 inches of snow fell at Bear Valley Springs in the Tehachapi Mountains. Some road closure and delays were reported in Tehachapi Mountain communities. In the Kern County deserts, winds gusted to 50 mph as the storm moved through.
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 Apr 3, 8:33 PM PST, 2 hours 52 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 933 PM PDT SAT APR 3 2010 .SYNOPSIS... FAIR SKIES UNDER A WEAK HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE WILL DOMINATE UNTIL SUNDAY EVENING. A NEW FRONTAL SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO INVADE MUCH OF THE AREA WITH WET WEATHER RETURNING BY SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY. && .DISCUSSION...A SHORTWAVE TROF MOVED THRU THE REGION TODAY. THIS HELD TEMPS DOWN UNDER MOCLDY SKIES...BUT LITTLE IF ANY PRECIP. IT HAS MOVED BY NOW...AND MAINLY CLEAR SKIES ARE THE RULE. THIS ALONG WITH DIMINISHING WINDS WILL BRING A COOLER NIGHT ACROSS THE AREA. UPDATED TO LOWER TEMPS A BIT MOST AREAS. IT NOW LOOKS LIKE THE BULK OF SUNDAY DAYTIME WILL BE DRY...EXCEPT FOR SOME LIGHT PRECIP OVER THE SIERRA NEAR YOSEMITE. STILL A RISK OF SOME SHOWERS IN THE VALLEY AS WELL FROM ABOUT LOS BANOS TO MERCED...MAYBE AS FAR SOUTH AS MADERA. BUT IT LOOKS LIKE FRESNO SOUTH WILL REMAIN DRY. LOWERED SUNDAY POPS. MAY NOT BE AS WARM SUN IN THE SOUTH END AS PREVIOUS EXPECTATIONS...REASONING IS THAT ARRIVAL OF COOLER AIR TODAY WILL NOT HAVE TIME TO ERODE AWAY SUN. LOWERED MAX TEMPS JUST A BIT SUN ALL AREAS...BUT ESPECIALLY THE SOUTH END OF THE VALLEY WHERE LOWER 70S PROBABLY WONT OCCUR. THE UPPER TROF AND FRONT WILL MOVE THRU LATE SUN NITE/EARLY MON. NEW GFS HAS FRONT CENTERED ROUGHLY 12Z MON. RAIN AND SNOW AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH TO SHOWERS MON MORNING...AND A FEW SHOWERS CONTINUING INTO THE AFTERNOON. UPGRADED THE WINTER STORM WATCH TO A WARNING FOR TOMORROW NITE AND MON MORNING. LATEST QPF TRENDS ON GFS SUGGEST MUCH HIGHER VALUES ACROSS KERN COUNTY LATE SUN NITE/MON MORNING AS WELL. MID SHIFT MAY NEED TO ISSUE SOME FORM OF WINTER PRODUCT FOR THAT AREA AS THE SNOW LEVEL DROPS TO AT OR NEAR PASS LEVELS MON MORNING. HUGE WARMUP STILL ON TRACK BY MID-WEEK AS STRONGER UPPER LEVEL LONGWAVE RIDGE BUILDS IN OVER THE WESTERN STATES BY WED. A WEAK TO MODERATE OFFSHORE FLOW BY WED COULD PUSH THE SFC THERMAL LOW TO THE COAST. THIS WILL...AT THE VERY LEAST...PUSH TEMPS BACK TO SEASONAL AVERAGE IF NOT A FEW DEGS ABOVE IN THE INTERIOR OF CA. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 309 PM PDT SAT APR 3 2010/ DISCUSSION... SOME HIGH CLOUDS CONTINUE TO MOVE OVER THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON...TEMPS HAVE TRENDED DOWN A FEW DEGREES COMPARED TO 24 HRS AGO...EXCEPT IN THE DESERT ARE UP ABOUT 2 OR 3 DEG WHERE SKIES HAVE BEEN MOSTLY CLEAR MOST OF THE DAY. EXPECT INCREASING CLOUDINESS THROUGH THE DAY SUNDAY TO COVER THE ENTIRE AREA AHEAD OF THE NEXT EPAC STORM SYSTEM. THIS SYSTEM IS PROGGED TO IMPACT THE AREA SUN AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON AND IS CURRENTLY CENTERED AT 48N/140W. THE TROUGH IS EXPECTED TO DIG SOUTH AND LOWER SNOW LEVELS THROUGH THE NIGHT ON SUNDAY AND INTO MONDAY. BY MONDAY AFTERNOON THE TROUGH IS EXPECTED TO MOVE EAST OF THE AREA WHEN PRECIPITATION WILL TAPER OFF. TUESDAY WILL REMAIN COOL DUE TO THE NORTHWEST FLOW BEHIND THE COLD FRONT THAT WILL PASS OVER DURING MONDAY. THE NEXT RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE AREA WED AND THU WHEN TEMPERATURES WILL WARM TO SEVERAL DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL WHICH MEANS WIDESPREAD 70S FOR HIGHS IN THE SJ VALLEY AND KERN COUNTY DESERT BY WED. THE RIDGE IS FORECASTED TO BREAK DOWN FRIDAY AS ANOTHER TROUGH APPROACHES THE PAC NW COAST. THE MODELS ARE IN SOME DISAGREEMENT ON MOVEMENT...DYNAMICS...AND TIMING OF THIS TROUGH. IT LOOKS LIKE IT COULD AFFECT MAINLY NORTHERN CA IN TERMS OF DYNAMICS AND PRECIPITATION...LEFT SLIGHT CHANCE POPS IN THE SIERRA FOR NOW. ALSO TRENDED TEMPS DOWN FOR FRI AND NEXT SAT SINCE MODELS ARE IN AGREEMENT OF PLACING A LONGWAVE TROUGH OVER THE AREA. && .AVIATION... AN UPPER-LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVING THROUGH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA WILL CAUSE MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AFTER 00Z SUNDAY...ESPECIALLY NORTH OF KINGS CANYON. WINDY CONDITIONS WILL DEVELOP IN THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON...WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS WILL BE PROBABLE THROUGH AND BELOW MOUNTAIN PASSES AFTER 00Z SUNDAY. THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW FROM SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK...AND FROM FRESNO COUNTY IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...NORTH AFTER 18Z SUNDAY. OTHERWISE VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED ELSEWHERE IN THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR THROUGH 00Z MONDAY. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES... NONE && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 5 PM SUNDAY TO NOON PDT MONDAY ABOVE 5000 FEET FOR THE CAZ096-097. && PUBLIC...BINGHAM AVN/FW...DCH SYNOPSIS...WP WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 946 PM PDT SAT APR 3 2010 CAZ096-097-041200- SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON- TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- 946 PM PDT SAT APR 3 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS IN EFFECT FROM 5 PM PDT SUNDAY TO NOON PDT MONDAY ABOVE 5000 FEET. FOR MORE INFO PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE HANFORD AT /WWUS46 KHNX/ OR /SFOWSWHNX/ FOR DETAILS. .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. WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD PEJ
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 1009 PM PDT SAT APR 3 2010 CAZ089>095-098-099-041300- WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS- TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS-KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY- SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 1009 PM PDT SAT APR 3 2010 ...WET AND COOL WEATHER RETURNS SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY... A STORM WILL MOVE INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA SUNDAY NIGHT...THEN BE EAST OF THE AREA BY MONDAY EVENING. PERIODS OF RAIN WILL DEVELOP LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...HEAVIEST DURING THE NIGHT AND EARLY MORNING HOURS. THE RAIN WILL GRADUALLY TAPER OFF TO SHOWERS BY LATE MORNING OR EARLY AFTERNOON. LATEST PRECIPITATION FORECASTS CALL FOR A QUARTER TO HALF INCH OF RAIN IN THE VALLEY...WITH ONE TO TWO INCHES IN THE SIERRA FOOTHILLS. FARTHER SOUTH...IT NOW LOOKS LIKE MUCH OF KERN COUNTY COULD SEE SOME DECENT RAIN TOTALS...FROM ABOUT A QUARTER OF AN INCH IN THE SOUTH END OF THE VALLEY TO A HALF INCH IN THE TEHACHAPIS. EVEN THE HIGH DESERTS COULD SEE ISOLATED AMOUNTS OF A THIRD OF AN INCH. GUSTY WINDS ARE POSSIBLE AHEAD OF AND BEHIND THE COLD FRONT SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY...ESPECIALLY THROUGH AND BELOW WIND FAVORED PASSES AND CANYONS OF KERN COUNTY. SOME SNOW IS POSSIBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN PASSES SOMETIME MONDAY MORNING. PERSONS PLANNING TRAVEL OVER THE GRAPEVINE OR THROUGH TEHACHAPI PASS MONDAY MORNING SHOULD KEEP ABREAST OF THE LATEST FORECASTS...AND ANY WIND OR WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES THAT MAY BE NECESSARY. BINGHAM WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter storm, 2 winter weather, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Twenty four hour rainfall of 1.59 inches fell, plus an additional 2 inches of snow, at Ponderosa Basin.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in California, April 2010
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: 227224, 227225, 227226, 227228, 227227.