An area of low pressure aloft allowed several shortwaves to pass over northern and central California the 25th through the 28th. High winds ahead of the main upper level wave developed the 25th before a series of shortwaves brought heavy snow and rain to the Sierra Nevada and portions of Eastern California.
Every event with a place to put it; 9 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.
An area of low pressure aloft allowed several shortwaves to pass over northern and central California the 25th through the 28th. High winds ahead of the main upper level wave developed the 25th before a series of shortwaves brought heavy snow and rain to the Sierra Nevada and portions of Eastern 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 Mar 24, 1:06 PM PST, 11 hours 54 minutes earlier.
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 heavy rain, 7 high wind, 1 heavy snow, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Mesonet JDPC1 9 miles northwest of Frenchman Lake measured a wind gust of 58 mph (elevation 6812 feet MSL).
Mesonet LDRC1 17 miles south of Pittville measured a wind gust of 67 mph (elevation 5672 feet MSL).
Mesonet SE089 1 mile southwest of Conway Summit measured a wind gust of 58 mph (elevation 8822 feet MSL).
Mesonet RNYC1 4 miles south-southeast of Sierraville measured a wind gust of 67 mph (elevation 6943 feet MSL).
Mesonet WMSRS atop White Mountain Summit measured a wind gust of 82 mph (elevation 14246 feet MSL).
Mesonet MTH03 atop Mammoth Mountain measured a wind gust of 72 mph (elevation 11053 feet MSL).
ASOS TVL, South Lake Tahoe Airport reported 1.27 inches of rainfall in a 24 hour period from 27 March 0353PST to 28 March 0353PST. ASOS elevation 6314 feet MSL.
AWOS TRK, Truckee-Tahoe Airport reported 0.79 inches of rainfall in a 24 hour period from 27 March 0455PST to 28 March 0455PST. AWOS elevation 5900 feet MSL.
Snowfall amounts between 12 and 14 inches fell near and west of California Highway 89 between the 27th and 28th, with much of that falling above 7000 feet. Near lake level at Homewood, 6.5 inches of snow fell. Below 7000 feet east of California Highway 89 and south of Interstate 80, 12 inches of snow fell at Northstar Ski Resort. South of US Highway 50, 6.5 inches of snow fell near Meyers and 15 inches of snow fell at Heavenly Ski Resort.
A CO-OP Observer in Tahoma reported 1.27 inches of rainfall in a 24 hour period from 27 March 0600PST to 28 March 0600PST. Observer elevation 6315 feet MSL.
CoCoRaHS Station CA-ED-20, 1 mile northwest of Meyers reported 1.16 inches of rainfall over a 24 hour period from 27 March 0600 PST to 28 March 0600PST.
CoCoRaHS Station CA-SI-2, 1 mile southwest of Sierraville reported 0.75 inches of rainfall over a 24 hour period from 27 March 0600PST to 28 March 0600PST.
South and west of US Highway 395 along the eastern Sierra Nevada, 16 and 12 inches of snow fell at June Mountain Resort (elevation 8664 feet MSL) and Mammoth Mountain (elevation 11083 feet MSL), respectively.
A CO-OP Observer in Tahoe City reported 0.83 inches of rainfall in a 24 hour period from 27 March 0700PST to 28 March 0700PST. Observer elevation 6230 feet MSL.
Mesonet station DNRC1, near Donner Lake reported 0.90 inches of rainfall in a 24 hour period from 27 March 0900PST to 28 March 0900PST. Mesonet elevation 5924 feet MSL.
Mesonet station BOGC1, 16 miles west-southwest of Spaulding reported 0.77 inches of rainfall in a 24 hour period from 27 March 0900PST to 28 March 0900PST. Mesonet elevation 5673 feet MSL.
Mesonet MTH03 atop Mammoth Mountain measured a wind gust of 108 mph (elevation 11053 feet MSL).
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, March 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 831153, 831154, 831170, 831165, 831171, 831189, 830767, 830768, 830769, 830770, 831136, 831166, 831198, 831137, 831141, 831168, 831192.