Light snow accumulations caused minor travel delays over high elevation mountain roads in the northern Sierra.
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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.
Light snow accumulations caused minor travel delays over high elevation mountain roads in the northern Sierra.
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 May 19, 9:30 PM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Sacramento CA 1030 PM PDT Sun May 19 2019 .SYNOPSIS... Another weather system will impact northern California Monday evening into Tuesday bringing more rain and mountain snow. Cool temperatures continue through mid-week with additional mountain shower chances. && .DISCUSSION... Evening Update: Upper low has finally exited our CWA, ending showers over our area. Thus, we have cancelled the WSW for the Sierra, although some "backwash" cloudiness (around the upper low to our SSE) and stray flurries could occur at times. Relatively slow-moving cells beneath the upper low moving from the Bay area early Sun morning and over the Nrn SJV Sun afternoon produced heavy rain and accumulating hail in the Lincoln Village area of SCK, and a funnel cloud in the Discovery Bay area. As mentioned last evening, the stronger cells should be along and to the NE of the vort max favoring the area especially from the Sac area Swd to Mod in our CWA for the best area for scattered or clusters of cells. Weak shear but high instability with relatively low WBZs from the 5h cold pocket suggests cells will mainly produce downpours and small hail, although the vort max could result in some mid level rotation and possibly funnels. JHM .Previous Discussion... GOES-17 1-minute visible imagery shows the deep upper cyclone sitting just offshore accompanied by a broad area of showers and isolated thunderstorms to its east. Lightning data from the GOES-17 GLM has shown occasional strikes within the more robust convective cells, some of which have contained small hail. Given RAP-indicated MUCAPE values sit between 500 and 750 J/kg, expect additional storms to fire as the upper low moves through this afternoon/evening. Potentially assisted by decent vertical wind shear (roughly 30-35 knots per the 12Z OAK sounding), some of these storms have persisted longer than expected. Gradually conditions will improve across the Valley by later tonight as the upper low moves toward the California/Nevada border. Moving toward the higher elevations, a somewhat surprising round of snowflakes swept through the foothills earlier today. An early morning convective line allowed temperatures to wet-bulb allowing snow levels to briefly drop to around 3,000 to 3,500 feet from roughly I-80 southward. Looking ahead, any upstream shower could produce a brief period of hazardous mountain travel as snow may reduce visibilities and further coat the roads. As such, a Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 5 AM, Monday, for elevations 6,000 feet and above. A temporary lull in the pattern is anticipated for the first half of Monday as a transient shortwave ridge moves overhead. Eventually an upper low currently sitting in between 150-140W longitude will bring more unsettled weather to the region for Monday evening into Tuesday. The more north-northwest to south- southeast trajectory is not the most favorable for widespread Valley precipitation. Thus, expect scattered showers to produce roughly 0.10 to 0.25 inches of rainfall over these locations. Meanwhile, another 4 to 8 inches of snow is possible across the Sierra, with higher amounts near the mountain summits. While subject to change, current snow levels will begin around 6,500 feet before falling to 5,000 to 5,500 feet on Tuesday. In addition to the precipitation, breezy southerly winds are likely from Monday evening into Tuesday morning over the northern Sacramento Valley with gusts up to 30 mph. Temperatures will remain cool as highs stay around 15 to 20 degrees below average. However, a gradual warming trend is on the horizon as the mid-level flow turns northerly. Scattered showers will continue across the mountains, particularly during the afternoon. ~BRO .EXTENDED DISCUSSION (Thursday THROUGH Sunday) Ensemble guidance continues to feature a broad upper level trough across the region later in the week, continuing the threat for mainly mountain showers and cooler than average temperatures. Some showers could spread across portions of the Valley at times, but confidence is low this far out. Daytime highs expected to remain several degrees below normal through the period, with Valley highs mainly in the 70s and 40s to 60s over the mountains. && .AVIATION... Areas of MVFR conditions, locally IFR, at TAF sites improving after 15z Monday. Scattered thunderstorms possible through 02Z Monday. Areas of southerly wind gusts up to 20 kts after 20Z Monday. Next system will bring precipitation after 00z Tuesday. && .STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. &&
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Sacramento CA 805 PM PDT Sun May 19 2019 CAZ019-200400- Northern San Joaquin Valley- 805 PM PDT Sun May 19 2019 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT NORTHEASTERN STANISLAUS AND EXTREME EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN COUNTIES... At 800 PM PDT, a strong thunderstorm was located over Riverbank and Oakdale, moving east at 10 mph. Very heavy rainfall is occurring with this storm which may cause localized street flooding. Small, pea size hail is possible with this storm and may accumulate on road surfaces. Other locations impacted include... Waterford, Escalon, Eugene, and Hughson. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways. Frequent lightning is occurring with this storm. Seek a safe shelter inside a building or vehicle. LAT...LON 3779 12109 3801 12088 3763 12041 3746 12083 TIME...MOT...LOC 0300Z 248DEG 9KT 3778 12089 jhm
The Sacramento radar (KDAX), 76 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:00 UTC.
1 winter weather, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A CoCoRaHS observer in Soda Springs reported 4 inches of snowfall in 24 hours at elevation 6,768 feet. Alpine Meadows Ski Resort reported 5 inches of snowfall at elevation 8,000 feet. Minor travel delays occurred on Interstate 80.
Hail caused damage to fruit in the Gold Hill area, near Placerville. Farmers in the area generally had 50% crop damage, with a few losing 90% of their crop. El Dorado County officials reported a damage estimate of $286,000.
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, May 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: 828568, 830300.