Heavy Snow and Heavy Rain in California, December 24 to 25, 2018

Name: Heavy Snow and Heavy Rain in California, December 24 to 25, 2018
Start: 2018-12-24T06:00
End: 2018-12-25T09:00
Location: California

December 24 to 25, 2018 · NWS STO · 5 events in 3 counties and zones

Periods of snow caused travel problems and delays on mountain highways during the busy holiday travel period.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: 5

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.

Periods of snow caused travel problems and delays on mountain highways during the busy holiday travel period.

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 Dec 23, 3:00 PM PST, 15 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 23, 3:00 PM PST, 15 hours 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

3 heavy snow, 2 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Plumas

When: December 24, 6:00 AM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Plumas County, 1.27 mi WSW of East Quincy
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 39.920, -120.920

There were 1.03 inches of rain over 12 hours in East Quincy.

Heavy Snow, West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada

When: December 24, 9:00 AM PST to December 25, 9:00 AM PST
Where: West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada forecast zone
Reported by: Public

There was 12 inches of snow reported at Northstar Ski Resort. Holiday travel was impacted by long delays and chain controls.

Heavy Snow, West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada

When: December 24, 9:00 AM PST to December 25, 9:00 AM PST
Where: West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada forecast zone
Reported by: Public

There was 11 inches of snow reported at Alpine Meadows Ski Resort. Holiday travel was impacted by long delays and chain controls.

Heavy Snow, West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada

When: December 24, 9:00 AM PST to December 25, 9:00 AM PST
Where: West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada forecast zone
Reported by: Public

There was 10 inches of snow reported at Sugar Bowl Ski Resort. Holiday travel was impacted by long delays and chain controls.

Heavy Rain, Shasta

When: December 24, 10:09 AM PST to 8:09 PM PST
Where: Shasta County, 0.87 mi SW of Shingletown
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.490, -121.890

There was 1.49 inches of rain over 10 hours in Shingletown.

What these are

Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
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

Every storm in California in 2018 Every state in 2018 This day in weather history Warnings in California, December 2018

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: 798630, 798634, 798635, 798637, 798631.