California, 2012

Heavy Snow in California, January 22 to 23, 2012

January 22 to 23, 2012 · NWS VEF · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Another Pacific storm passed through the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin, bringing locally heavy snow.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 VEF wrote it up.

Another Pacific storm passed through the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin, bringing locally heavy snow.

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 Las Vegas, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 22, 9:11 AM PST, 5 hours 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 22, 9:11 AM PST, 5 hours 49 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 22, 5:54 AM PST, 9 hours 6 minutes before
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In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 22, 11:52 AM PST, 3 hours 8 minutes before
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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, Eastern Sierra Slopes of Inyo County

When
January 22, 3:00 PM PST to January 23, 12:00 PM PST
Where
Eastern Sierra Slopes of Inyo County forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
36.511, -117.411 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Aspendell observer measured 19.2 inches of snow.

Heavy Snow, Owens Valley

When
January 23, 3:30 AM PST to 9:45 AM PST
Where
Owens Valley forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter

Eight inches of snow fell in Bishop before changing to rain.

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

More

Every storm in California in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 2012

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 354866, 354865.