Winter Weather in California, November 17 to 18, 2012

Name: Winter Weather in California, November 17 to 18, 2012
Start: 2012-11-17T16:00
End: 2012-11-18T16:00
Location: California

November 17 to 18, 2012 · NWS STO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A weak winter storm from the Gulf of Alaska brushed through Northern California Saturday night through Sunday morning and dropped between 2-12 inches of snow for the highest elevations. Many ski resorts only reported between 2-12 inches but SNOTEL sites reported up to 12 inches of snow depth.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 STO wrote it up.

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 Sacramento, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 17, 3:25 PM PST, 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 17, 3:25 PM PST, 35 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 17, 7:00 AM PST, 9 hours before

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In the hours before

Local storm report, Nov 17, 10:07 AM PST, 5 hours 53 minutes before

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Local storm report, Nov 17, 10:08 AM PST, 5 hours 52 minutes before

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Local storm report, Nov 17, 10:09 AM PST, 5 hours 51 minutes before

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Local storm report, Nov 17, 10:10 AM PST, 5 hours 50 minutes before

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Local storm report, Nov 17, 10:11 AM PST, 5 hours 49 minutes before

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Event by event

1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada

When: November 17, 4:00 PM PST to November 18, 4:00 PM PST
Where: West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada forecast zone
Reported by: SNOTEL

Snow for this event began approximately 4pm on Saturday, November 17th through approximately 4pm Sunday, November 18th. Estimated snow amounts above 6000 ft were between 2-12 inches. North Fork American SNOTEL (6855 ft) reported about 11 inches of snow depth increase, but may be overestimated. West Walker Basin SNOTEL (9617 ft) reported over 9 inches of snow depth for that time period, although snow had begun accumulating prior to this event from a weaker system. South Fork American Basin (8353 ft) reported approximately 8-10 inches during this event. Soda Springs reported approximately 11 inches. Other snow amounts reported between 2-4 inches, which would not reach warning criteria.

What these are

Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2012 Every state in 2012 This day in weather history Warnings in California, November 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 413963.