California, 2017

Heavy Snow in California, November 3 to 4, 2017

November 3 to 4, 2017 · NWS REV · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A trough of low pressure moved from the northeast Pacific on the 3rd into California and Nevada on the 4th, bringing snowfall to locations above 6500 feet around Lake Tahoe and above 5500 feet in northeast California.

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
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 REV wrote it up.

A trough of low pressure moved from the northeast Pacific on the 3rd into California and Nevada on the 4th, bringing snowfall to locations above 6500 feet around Lake Tahoe and above 5500 feet in northeast California.

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 Reno, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 2, 1:21 PM PST, 14 hours 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 2, 1:21 PM PST, 14 hours 39 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

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Greater Lake Tahoe Area

When
November 3, 4:00 AM PST to November 4, 3:00 PM PST
Where
Greater Lake Tahoe Area forecast zone
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
38.935, -120.458 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ski resorts around western/northwestern Lake Tahoe reported 3-5 inches of snowfall above 6500 feet with reports of 12-18 inches at the Sierra crest between Alpine Meadows and Donner Summit.

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 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in California, November 2017

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: 728655.