A narrow band (several miles wide) of heavy snow associated with a very cold upper low brought 1-2 feet of snow between Lake City and 3 miles north of Cedarville on the morning of the 5th. Cedarville (a few miles south of Lake City) only reported an inch of snow.
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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 REV wrote it up.
A narrow band (several miles wide) of heavy snow associated with a very cold upper low brought 1-2 feet of snow between Lake City and 3 miles north of Cedarville on the morning of the 5th. Cedarville (a few miles south of Lake City) only reported an inch of snow.
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 Reno, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 4, 8:10 PM PST, 4 hours 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
910 PM PDT WED APR 4 2012
.UPDATE...
WINDS CONTINUE TO DECLINE SLOWLY WITH THE LAKE WIND ADVISORIES
DONE FOR TODAY. WINDS WILL BE GUSTY TOMORROW, THOUGH DO NOT EXPECT
ANY BIG IMPACTS FOR TAHOE AND PYRAMID. HIGHEST GUSTS WILL AFFECT
MONO AND MINERAL COUNTIES AS THE COLD LOW MOVES INTO NORTHWEST
NEVADA.
SHOWERS ARE INCREASING NORTH OF TRUCKEE TO LOVELOCK AS THE COLD
UPPER LOW PUSHES INTO OREGON TONIGHT. CURRENT FORECAST HANDLES THE
INCREASING SHOWER POTENTIAL WELL. NO ADDITIONAL CHANGES PLANNED
FOR THIS EVENING. BRONG
&&
.PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 318 PM PDT WED APR 4 2012/
SHORT TERM...
COLD UPPER TROUGH WILL SETTLE OVER AREA THROUGH THURSDAY
WITH VERY COLD TEMPERATURES ALOFT (-14C AT 700MB AND -34C AT 500
MB). THIS WILL BRING UNSEASONABLY COLD TEMPERATURES THE NEXT 36
HOURS WITH OVERNIGHT LOWS DROPPING INTO THE TEENS AND 20S AND
HIGHS THURSDAY STRUGGLING TO GET INTO THE 40S SOME AREAS. FOR
THOSE WHO HAVE TURNED ON SPRINKLER SYSTEMS, PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT
EXPOSED SPRINKLER PIPES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED.
OTHERWISE, WINDS CONTINUE TO BLOW DUE TO STRONG THERMAL AND PRESSURE
GRADIENTS WITH GUSTS STILL NEAR OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE 40 MPH. AS
SOUTHERN AND EASTERN NV AREAS COOL THIS EVENING, GRADIENTS WILL
BEGIN TO RELAX AND WINDS WILL SUBSIDE. SEVERAL OF THE BUOYS ON LAKE
TAHOE CONTINUE TO SHOW SUSTAINED WINDS 15-25 MPH WITH ONE SHOWING
SPEEDS BEGINNING TO FALL OFF. NORTHWEST WINDS ARE RESULTING IN A
DECENT FETCH FOR PYRAMID WHICH WILL PROMOTE CHOPPY WATERS INTO
THE EVENING. WILL CONTINUE LAKE WIND ADVISORIES UNTIL THEIR
EXPIRATION.
COLD UNSTABLE AIR ALOFT HAS REACHED NORTHEAST CA WITH INCREASING
SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS LASSEN, PLUMAS AND NORTHERN WASHOE COUNTIES.
CLOUDS AND SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD EAST AND
SLOWLY SOUTH OVERNIGHT AND THEN OVER MOST AREAS ON THURSDAY AS CORE
OF TROUGH PASSES OVERHEAD. MODELS AND SATELLITE INDICATE S/WV ON
BACK SIDE OF TROUGH WILL ROTATE THROUGH AREA THURSDAY. COMBINATION
OF WEAK FORCING AND STEEP LAPSE RATES WILL BE SUFFICIENT TO PRODUCE
ISOLATED HEAVIER SHOWERS WITH GRAUPEL OR SNOW PELLETS AND POSSIBLY A
LIGHTNING STRIKE OR TWO. HAVE EXPANDED SCATTERED SNOW SHOWER AREA
AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDER FOR THURSDAY. ACCUMULATIONS WILL
GENERALLY BE LIGHT ALTHOUGH HEAVIER SHOWERS COULD PRODUCE LOCAL
AMOUNTS OF AN INCH OR TWO. THERE COULD BE SOME SLICK ROADS FOR PARTS
OF NORTHEAST CA OVERNIGHT AND MAINLY HIGHER PASSES THURSDAY
MORNING.
TROUGH WILL LIFT OUT THURSDAY NIGHT WITH SHOWERS ENDING AND CLOUDS
BREAKING. RIDGE ALOFT WILL MOVE OVER AREA FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT
FOR DRIER CONDITIONS. WHILE MOUNTAIN TEMPERATURES WILL BE THE FIRST
TO WARM, VALLEY AREAS WILL WARM MUCH SLOWER AS MIXING AND WINDS WILL
BE MUCH WEAKER. TROUGH SETTING UP OFFSHORE WILL TURN WINDS MORE
SOUTHWEST FOR THE WEEKEND AND BRING BETTER WARMING WITH TEMPERATURES
CLOSER TO NORMAL ON SATURDAY. HOHMANN
LONG TERM...SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...
NUDGED UP POPS SLIGHTLY TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY AND COOLED DOWN
HIGHS WEDNESDAY, OTHERWISE LITTLE TO NO CHANGE TO EXTENDED GRIDS.
THE EXTENDED FORECAST WILL FOCUS ON THE EVENTUAL PROGRESS OF TROUGH
ENERGY OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC INTO THE WEST MID TO LATE NEXT WEEK.
HOWEVER THE TROUGH DECIDES TO PROGRESS, SUNDAY AND MONDAY LOOK
SPECTACULAR AS THE UPPER RIDGE AXIS REMAINS ANCHORED OVER THE
NORTHERN ROCKIES AND FOUR CORNERS REGION WITH MILD SOUTH TO
SOUTH-SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT AND SUNNY TO PARTLY CLOUDY (HIGH CLOUDS)
SKIES. HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO RISE TO SOME 7 TO 12
DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE (NOT OVERLY SIGNIFICANT) FOR MOST AREAS. ONE
MAIN EXCEPTION WILL BE NEAR LAKE TAHOE WHERE CHILLY LAKE SURFACE
TEMPS IN THE LOWER 40S COULD HOLD DOWN HIGHS NEAR THE WATER AS
AFTERNOON LAKE BREEZES DEVELOP.
TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY, ATTENTION TURNS TO THE EJECTION OF EASTERN
PACIFIC TROUGH ENERGY TOWARDS THE REGION. THE ISSUE WILL BE THE
SPEED OF THE EJECTION AS WELL AS THE ORGANIZATION OF THE DISTURBANCE.
THE ECMWF IS LESS ORGANIZED LOOKING THAN THE GFS WITH ENERGY SPLITTING
AND WEAKENING AS IT MOVES INLAND. THE ECMWF IS ALSO SLOWER THAN THE
GFS WITH THE EJECTION. WITH THESE THINGS IN MIND, THE ECMWF DEVELOP
MUCH LESS PRECIP THAN THE GFS ESPECIALLY OVER NORTHEAST CALIFORNIA.
EITHER WAY THERE WILL BE SOME KIND OF TROUGH ENERGY MOVING INTO THE
SIERRA ON WEDNESDAY SO I FELT IT WAS WORTH A MINOR BUMP UP IN POP
FOR THAT AREA (TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE CLIMATOLOGY).
TEMPERATURE WISE TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY, TUESDAY SHOULD BE SIMILAR TO
MONDAY FOR THE BASIN AND RANGE AS A THERMAL TROUGH SHIFT INTO THE
BASIN AHEAD OF THE EASTERN PACIFIC TROUGH. FURTHER WEST, A SLIGHT
COOLDOWN IS POSSIBLE ALTHOUGH THIS IS UNCERTAIN DUE TO POSSIBLE
CLOUD COVER AND TIMING DIFFERENCES WITH THE PROGRESSION OF THE
PACIFIC TROUGH ENERGY. BY WEDNESDAY, MODELS DEFINITELY BRING IN
COOLER AIR AS THE TROUGH NEARS SO I HAVE HIGHS FALLING A GOOD 5 TO
10 DEGREES EVERYWHERE BETWEEN TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. SNYDER
AVIATION...
THE NEXT 24 HOURS WILL FOCUS ON COLD LOW PRESSURE MOVING SOUTH FROM
OREGON. THIS WILL SPREAD CUMULUS/STRATOCUMULUS DECKS SOUTH TONIGHT
AND THURSDAY WITH BKN CIGS 070-085 MSL/MT TOP OBSC PSBL AFTER 06Z
NORTH OF PYRAMID LAKE. BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON, DAYTIME HEATING AND
VERY COLD AIR ALOFT WILL BRING INSTABILITY CUMULUS BUILDUPS WITH A
SLIGHT CHANCE (PERHAPS 5%) OF THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE WESTERN GREAT
BASIN. SNYDER
&&
.REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM PDT THIS EVENING FOR PYRAMID LAKE
IN NVZ004.
CA...NONE.
&&
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RENOThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
A spotter 3 miles north of Cedarville reported a foot of snow, with as much as 2 feet of snow reported in Lake City.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in California, April 2012
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: 376276.