A winter storm dropped significant snowfall amounts over parts of Northwest California. This resulted in chain restrictions on the higher elevation roads.
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 EKA wrote it up.
A winter storm dropped significant snowfall amounts over parts of Northwest California. This resulted in chain restrictions on the higher elevation roads.
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 Eureka, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 26, 2:00 PM PST, 3 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EUREKA CA 300 PM PDT MON MAR 26 2012 .SYNOPSIS...ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING GUSTY WINDS...RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW TO THE REGION TONIGHT AND TUESDAY. A SECOND STORM SYSTEM WILL IMPACT THE NORTH COAST TUE...MAINTAINING RAIN AND SNOW ALONG WITH WINDY CONDITIONS INTO WED. AN ACTIVE UPPER LEVEL PATTERN WILL MAINTAIN UNSETTLED WEATHER INTO THE WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION...NORTHWEST CA IN BETWEEN 2 SYSTEMS THIS AFTERNOON AS YESTERDAYS TROUGH EXITS TO THE EAST AND ANOTHER WARM FROM SLIDES EASTWARD ACROSS THE COASTAL WATERS. THIS WARM FRONT WILL BEGIN TO SPREAD LIGHT PRECIP OVER THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE CWA LATER TONIGHT WHILE THE COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO ARRIVE EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. PLENTY OF RAIN AND SNOW TO ELEVATIONS ABOVE 3000 FEET ARE EXPECTED. THE PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL TIGHTEN THIS EVENING WITH S-SE WINDS BECOMING BREEZY TO WINDY. THIS SYSTEM EXPECTED TO HAVE MORE MOISTURE AS MODELED PWATS AROUND 1 INCH CONTINUE TO TAKE AIM AT CWA. HEAVY RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW EXPECTED TO BEGIN AFTER MIDNIGHT AS THE FIRST WAVE CROSSES CWA. CONTINUED WITH THE CURRENT WINTER WX ADVISORY FOR THE UPPER TRINITY ZONE WITH SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 5-9 INCHES EXPECTED ABOVE 4KFT WITH 1-3 INCHES EXPECTED DOWN TO 3KFT. ALSO ISSUED A WIND ADVISORY FOR THE REDWOOD COAST AS WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE PROLONGED ALONG THE ENTIRE COAST WITH THE STRONGEST GUSTS LIKELY TO AFFECT AREAS NORTH OF TRINIDAD. MDT TO HEAVY PRECIP WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE DAY TUE AS ANOTHER WAVE PUSHES A FRONTAL SYSTEM ACROSS THE REGION. SNOW LEVELS WILL CONTINUE AROUND 3500-4000 FT TUE. TIMED ADVISORY TO END TUE AFTERNOON DURING LULL BETWEEN TWO SYSTEMS...BUT WINDOW MAY BE TOO SHORT AND ADVISORY MAY NEED TO BE EXTENDED. UPPER LEVEL TROUGH AXIS WILL SWING ACROSS THE AREA WED WITH PRECIP TRANSITIONING TO SHOWERS. ACTIVE UPPER LEVEL PATTERN EXPECTED TO MAINTAIN UNSETTLED WEATHER THROUGH THE WEEKEND... THEREFORE KEPT POPS AT OR ABOVE CLIMO THROUGH THE EXTENDED. && .AVIATION...CONDITIONS WILL BOUNCE BETWEEN VFR AND MVFR INTO TONIGHT BEFORE MVFR TAKES OVER WITH THE FRONT. AS RAIN BECOMES HEAVIER AHEAD THE FRONT, IFR WILL BE LIKELY. UKI SHOULD ESCAPE THE IFR, BUT MAY SEE A PERIOD OR TWO OF IT. THE OTHER CONCERN WILL BE THE WIND SHEAR. SURFACE WINDS WILL GUST 30 TO 40 KT ALONG THE COAST, AND LIKELY TO 20 KT AT UKI. WITH A STABLE BOUNDARY LAYER, MIXING WILL BE TOUGH. MODEL 925MB WINDS CONTINUE TO SHOW 50 TO 70 KT AHEAD OF THE FRONT. VAD WIND PROFILE IS SHOWING 30+ KT AT 3K FT CURRENTLY. SO, WIND, RAIN, MVFR DUMPING TO IFR AT TIMES OF HEAVY RAIN. BFG && .MARINE...WINDS WILL REMAIN ELEVATED AND SEAS WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD AS A FRONT BEARS DOWN ON THE WATERS. LOOK FOR STRONG GALE CONDITIONS TONIGHT INTO TUE. WINDS WILL COME DOWN A BIT TUE AFTERNOON, BUT STILL NEAR GALE AS A SECONDARY FRONT MOVES INTO THE AREA. SEAS WILL BE ELEVATED DUE TO POST FRONT WAVES ROLLING IN. THESE WAVES WILL STICK AROUND THROUGH THE WEEK. WINDS WILL FINALLY BREAK A BIT MID TO LATE WEEK AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT WEAKENS BEHIND THE SECONDARY FRONT. DID NOT OPT FOR THE STORM WARNING TONIGHT, AS IT WILL BE CONFINED MAINLY TO THE TOP QUARTER OF OUR FORECAST WATERS. THE LAST FEW DAYS THE WW3 HAS BEEN SHOWING A HIGH AMPLITUDE WAVE TRAIN FOR THE WEEKEND AND EACH MARINE FORECAST WE HAVE BEEN KEEPING IT MUCH LOWER THAT MODEL GUIDANCE. WELL, THE WW3 HAS FINALLY BEGUN A FULL SCALE BACKOFF OF THIS WAVE TRAIN AND IS COMING IN MORE WITH WHAT WE HAVE BEEN FORECASTING. SO LOOK FOR 13 TO 15 FT OVER THE WEEKEND. BFG && .EKA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 1 AM TO 1 PM PDT TUE ABOVE 4000 FEET FOR CAZ004. WIND ADVISORY FROM 9PM TO 5PM TUE FOR CAZ001 REDWOOD COAST ZONE. GALES ALL WATERS. && VISIT US AT HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/EUREKA FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AT: HTTP://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/US.NATIONALWEATHERSERVICE.EUREKA.GOV
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EUREKA CA 229 PM PDT MON MAR 26 2012 CAZ001-272130- REDWOOD COAST- 229 PM PDT MON MAR 26 2012 ...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO 5 PM PDT TUESDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. A WIND ADVISORY IS CURRENTLY IN EFFECT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. A WIND ADVISORY IS CURRENTLY IN EFFECT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. CAZ002-272130- MENDOCINO COAST- 229 PM PDT MON MAR 26 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. ANOTHER PACIFIC FRONT WILL BRING PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY SOUTH WINDS TO THE MENDOCINO COAST REGION THROUGH TUESDAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. ANOTHER PACIFIC FRONT WILL BRING PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY SOUTH WINDS TO THE MENDOCINO COAST REGION THROUGH TUESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. CAZ003-076-272130- NORTH COAST INTERIOR-MENDOCINO INTERIOR- 229 PM PDT MON MAR 26 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. CAZ004-272130- UPPER TRINITY RIVER- 229 PM PDT MON MAR 26 2012 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 1 PM PDT TUESDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS CURRENTLY IN EFFECT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS CURRENTLY IN EFFECT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Several spotters reported snowfall meeting warning criteria. Chain restrictions were required on one of the main roads.
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, March 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: 364447.