Rivers remained unusually cold and fast moving due to the deep Sierra snow pack continued melt, which contributed to multiple drownings over a stretch of days.
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 STO wrote it up.
Rivers remained unusually cold and fast moving due to the deep Sierra snow pack continued melt, which contributed to multiple drownings over a stretch of days.
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 Jun 18, 2:20 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Sacramento CA 320 PM PDT Tue Jun 18 2019 .SYNOPSIS... Warmest conditions today, especially over the northern and central Sacramento Valley. A slow cooling trend through the end of the week dropping to near average by Friday. Warmer temperatures again over the weekend before turning cooler by next Tuesday. A slight chance of afternoon mountain thunderstorms early next week. && .DISCUSSION... The eastern extent of a strong 597-dm ridge has settled upon the region. Subsidence underneath this anticyclone center has kept the forecast area devoid of cloud cover outside of a few fair weather cumulus over ridges of Tuoloumne County. Ample surface heating coupled with the the ridge aloft has allowed warm temperatures to prevail this afternoon. Early afternoon temperatures have already reached the century mark in some locations of the northern Sacramento Valley. While no daily records are forecast to be broken, high temperatures should be around 10 to 15 degrees above climatology. A Heat Advisory remains in effect through 10 PM with heat-related illnesses possible for the more at-risk population. In addition to the extensive warmth, dry/gusty northerly winds continue across areas of the northern Sacramento Valley as relative humidities have dropped into the lower teens. This will further dry out grassy areas leading to increased fire weather concerns later in the week. On Wednesday, a cooling trend is likely as the mentioned upper ridge partially erodes from a system across the Pacific Northwest. Temperatures will drop at least 5 degrees in most locations although this will keep triple digits in place across the Red Bluff and Redding areas. As the trough over the northwestern U.S. digs into the central Great Basin, notable height falls push through the region (10 dm in 24 hours) on Thursday into Friday. 1000-500 mb thicknesses in the 555-560 dm range are able to move through interior northern California allowing for a couple days of near average temperatures. Additionally, a more active Delta breeze will assist in keeping conditions on the cooler side. Eventually an offshore ridge builds for the start of the weekend allowing temperatures to rise back into the low/mid 90s. While the upper trough will provide some relief from the warm first half of June, it also enhances the fire weather danger from Thursday into the weekend. Another bout of dry, northerly gusts will lower daytime relative humidities, while accompanied by poor overnight recoveries. With grassy surfaces below 2,000 feet almost fully cured in areas of direct sun, an inherent fire weather concern will exist. ~BRO && .EXTENDED DISCUSSION (Saturday THROUGH Tuesday) Temperatures will continue to cool into next week. Both the GEFS and the EPS ensemble runs have consistently shown a region of low pressure working southward into the Pacific Northwest early next week. As this shortwave dips into the Western U.S., the resulting north/south pressure gradient will create a more zonally oriented flow for our region early next week. The Delta breeze is expected to strengthen as this shift occurs. This means cooler temps to most of the region with Delta influenced areas seeing the greatest cooling. Somewhat breezy conditions are also expected for Delta influenced areas by the beginning of the next work week. Highs across much of the Valley are only expected to reach into the mid to upper 80s by Tuesday with mountain highs in the 60s to 70s. Temperatures will be 5 - 10 degrees below average for this time period. SLL && .AVIATION... VFR conditions expected for interior Northern California for the next 24 hours. Most surface winds will stay below 12 knots, except for the Delta region with west-southwesterly flow in the 20 to 25 knot range at times. ~BRO && .STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Fire Weather Watch from Thursday afternoon through Saturday morning for Central Sacramento Valley in Glenn, Colusa, Yuba, Northern Sutter, and Butte County Below 1000 Ft-Eastern Mendocino NF-Eastern Portion of Shasta/Trinity NF-Northern Sacramento Valley to Southern Tehama County Line Below 1000 Ft- Northern Sierra Foothills from 1000 to 3000 Ft. Includes portions of Shasta-Trinity and Butte Units-Southeast Edge Shasta- Trinity NF and Western Portions of Tehama-Glenn Unit-Southern Sacramento Valley in Yolo-Sacramento Far Western Placer, southern Sutter and Solano County Below 1000 Ft. Heat Advisory until 10 PM PDT this evening for Central Sacramento Valley-Clear Lake/Southern Lake County-Motherlode- Mountains Southwestern Shasta County to Northern Lake County- Northeast Foothills/Sacramento Valley-Northern Sacramento Valley- Shasta Lake Area / Northern Shasta County-Southern Sacramento Valley. &&
3 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
On the evening of June 18th a woman reported that her boyfriend was swept away by fast-moving water in the West Branch of the Feather River, near the end of Dean Road in Paradise, CA. The next day authorities were able to recover the victim.
On June 19th, a group of friends had been swimming in the Cosumnes River at Highway 49, near the Amador-El Dorado County line. Around 1130PST, a call was made to local authorities that a teenage boy was pulled under by rapids and disappeared. Two hours later, rescue teams were able to recover the victim.
On June 23, Nevada County Sheriff's Office received a call that a swimmer went into the water of the Emerald Pools Recreation Area, was overtaken by the current, and that the group of friends lost sight of him. A multi-agency search and rescue was started that afternoon, but the victim was not recovered until the following day. The Sheriff's office noted that the water temperature was about 40 degrees Fahrenheit for this event.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold/Wind Chill, Northeast Foothills/Sacramento Valley | 2019-06-18 | 26 | Male | In Water | Indirect |
| Cold/Wind Chill, Motherlode/Camptonville to Groveland | 2019-06-19 | 16 | Male | In Water | Indirect |
| Cold/Wind Chill, West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada | 2019-06-23 | 23 | In Water | Indirect |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in California, June 2019
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: 837662, 837666, 837675.