Low pressure moved slowly south near the Pacific Northwest coast between the 2nd and the 4th before moving inland over northern California and Nevada on the 5th. The system brought significant snow and rain to the Sierra and northeast California.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
Low pressure moved slowly south near the Pacific Northwest coast between the 2nd and the 4th before moving inland over northern California and Nevada on the 5th. The system brought significant snow and rain to the Sierra and northeast California.
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 Jan 1, 3:51 PM PST, 2 hours 9 minutes earlier.
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</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy snow was noted between the evening of the 1st and early on the 5th, including 15 inches in Susanville, 19 inches in Portola, and 21 inches several miles southwest of Susanville.
Hefty snowfall amounts between 3 and 7 feet fell near and west of Highway 89 between the 2nd and 5th, with the higher amounts (5 or more feet) above 7000 feet. Below 7000 feet east of about Highway 89, much lower amounts fell (longer periods of rain) with between 14 and 22 inches noted. Interstate 80 was closed between 1700PST on the 4th and 0100PST on the 5th due to the heavy snow.
The Cedarville Cooperative Observer reported 30 inches of snowfall between early morning on the 2nd and the afternoon of the 4th.
Storm total snowfall amounts reached between 40 and 84 (7 feet) inches for the Mammoth Mountain Ski area from the afternoon of the 3rd into the early morning of the 5th, with the highest amounts above 9000 feet. East of the immediate Sierra crest down to around 7000 feet, up to 14 to 19 inches of snow was reported. Below 7000 feet, amounts fell off dramatically with significant rainfall. Only 6 inches of snow fell in Lee Vining, with around 2.5 inches in Bridgeport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 2017
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: 689090, 689096, 689099, 689097.