Late season winter weather resulted in periods of moderate to occasionally heavy snow along with locally gusty winds to the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada 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.
Late season winter weather resulted in periods of moderate to occasionally heavy snow along with locally gusty winds to the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada 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 May 25, 3:15 PM PST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA 415 PM PDT TUE MAY 25 2010 .DISCUSSION... WATER VAPOR SATELLITE IMAGERY CLEARLY SHOWS A LARGE UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM LOCATED OFF THE COAST OF BRITISH COLUMBIA AROUND 50 N AND 138 W. A DIGGING SHORTWAVE TROUGH CAN BE SEEN MOVING ONSHORE INTO CALIFORNIA. THE CENTER OF THE SURFACE LOW CAN BE SEEN BY VISIBLE SATELLITE JUST OF THE COAST OF EUREKA...ALONG WITH THE BACK END OF THE FRONT. RADAR SHOWS PRECIPITATION SPREAD ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA. EMBEDDED CONVECTION HAS DEVELOP OVER THE NORTHERN SACRAMENTO VALLEY AND INTO THE NORTHEASTERN FOOTHILLS...WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING. THESE WEAK STORMS MAY CONTINUE TO FORM THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING...WITH BRIEF PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN AND OCCASIONAL CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. LOCALLY GUSTY WINDS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS. REDDING HAS JUST EXPERIENCED A GUST TO 53 MPH. THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TONIGHT AS THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY MOVES THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA BETWEEN 8 PM AND MIDNIGHT. EXPECT PERIODS OF MODERATE TO HEAVY PRECIPITATION...BUT THIS WILL MOVE OUT FAIRLY QUICKLY AS THE FRONT EXITS. THIS MAY LIMIT THE AMOUNT OF QPF QUITE A BIT...ALTHOUGH SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE BEHIND THE FRONT. SNOW LEVELS WILL BEGIN OVER 6000 FEET AND WILL DROP TO AROUND 5000 FEET WEDNESDAY MORNING. SNOW AMOUNTS GENERALLY AROUND 2 TO 6 INCHES ARE EXPECTED OVER THE NORTHERN SIERRA AND INTO THE SOUTHERN CASCADES...WITH UP TO 4 TO 8 INCHES NEAR THE CREST. GUSTY WINDS ARE EXPECTED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO TONIGHT THEN DECREASING BEHIND THE FRONT. AN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE WILL CONTINUE SHOWERS OVER THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH THE DAY WEDNESDAY INTO THE EVENING. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS OVER THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL SACRAMENTO VALLEY INTO THE NORTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY CONTINUES FOR ZONES 68 AND 69 THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. THERE MAY BE ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTHERN SACRAMENTO VALLEY AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. THE CENTER OF THE COLD UPPER LOW FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL MOVE INLAND ACROSS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT AND BRING MORE WIDESPREAD SHOWER ACTIVITY AND AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS WITH SMALL HAIL POSSIBLE. THERE WILL ALSO BE THE POTENTIAL FOR ANOTHER LATE SEASON SNOWFALL EVENT. THIS COULD BRING SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATION OVER THE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AND SOUTHERN CASCADES. SNOW LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO BE A LITTLE LOWER AT AROUND 4500-5000 FEET. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED. LINGERING SHOWERS REMAIN ON FRIDAY AS THE LOW GRADUALLY EXITS TO THE EAST. THIS WILL BRING GRADUALLY IMPROVING WEATHER THROUGH THE DAY. HIGHS WILL WARM UP BY 5 TO 10 DEGREES...REACHING INTO THE LOWER 70S OVER THE VALLEY. .EXTENDED DISCUSSION (SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY)... RELATIVELY BENIGN WEATHER PATTERN SETTING UP FOR MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND AS A FLAT RIDGE SETS UP OVER INTERIOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. EXPECT FAIR WEATHER WITH PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES AS TEMPS WARM UP TO AROUND 80 DEGREES THROUGH THE VALLEY FOR THE WEEKEND...WITH 70S OVER THE FOOTHILLS AND 50S AND 60S OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. WHILE STILL SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL...THESE TEMPS WOULD BE A DRASTIC WARMUP FROM MOST OF THIS MONTH. MEDIUM RANGE MODELS HINTING AT WEAK WAVES MOVING THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST EARLY NEXT WEEK...PERHAPS BRINGING A SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION TO THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS. DANG && .AVIATION... COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH INTERIOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA THIS EVENING. EXPECT PERIODS OF LIGHT TO LOCALLY MODERATE PRECIPITATION WITH VFR TO MVFR CIGS THROUGH ABOUT 06-10Z AT THE VALLEY TAF SITES. WIDESPREAD LIFR/IFR CIGS OVER THE SIERRA WITH SNOW LEVELS LOWERING FROM ABOVE 7000 FEET TO AROUND 6000 FEET. AFTER FRONTAL PASSAGE...MVFR CIGS MAY LINGER IN THE VALLEY AND RAIN/SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE OVER THE SIERRA. ONSHORE WINDS 10-15 KT WITH LOCAL GUSTS UP TO 25 KT THIS EVENING THROUGH THE VALLEY BEFORE WEAKENING LATE TONIGHT. SOUTHWESTERLY WIND GUSTS UP TO 35 KT OVER SIERRA RIDGETOPS THIS EVENING. && .STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING FOR THE WEST SLOPES OF THE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AND THE MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN PLUMAS COUNTY AND LASSEN PARK ABOVE 6000 FEET. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA 550 AM PDT TUE MAY 25 2010 CAZ013>019-063-064-066>069-261400- 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- 550 AM PDT TUE MAY 25 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR INTERIOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY ANOTHER COOL WEATHER SYSTEM FROM OFF THE PACIFIC WILL MOVE INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA TODAY SPREADING PRECIPITATION INLAND ACROSS THE REGION. PERIODS OF MODERATE TO OCCASIONALLY HEAVY SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE CREST OF THE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA TONIGHT AND EARLY WEDNESDAY. * WINTER STORM WATCH.........SEE WWUS46 KSTO - WSWSTO FOR DETAILS * .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY COOL AND UNSETTLED WEATHER WITH OCCASIONAL PERIODS OF SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE INTO EARLY FRIDAY. A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE CENTRAL VALLEY AND FOOTHILLS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...POSSIBLY ACCOMPANIED BY SMALL HAIL. .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
2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Late season winter weather resulted in two to five inches of snow falling in locations above 6000 feet and four to eight inches of snow along the crest.
Late season winter weather resulted in two to five inches of snow falling in locations above 6000 feet and four to eight inches of snow along the crest.
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, May 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: 236746, 236747.