Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in California, January 16 to 17, 2020

A cold front that was associated with an upper trough which pushed through California on January 16 crossed central CA during the afternoon and evening hours, and provided much of the area with 6 to 8 hours of precipitation. Much of the San Joaquin Valley picked up between a quarter and a half inch of rainfall while several locations in the Sierra Nevada and adjacent foothills picked up between a half inch and an inch of liquid precipitation. The precipitation fell mainly as snow above 4000 feet where several locations picked up between 5 and 10 inches of new snowfall while a few stations picked up as much as 14 inches. Between a quarter to half an inch of liquid precipitation also fell across the Kern County Mountains, but the snow levels were a bit higher (4500 to 5000 feet), and the major passes remained open although several roads in the Tehachapi area were closed overnight for accumulating snow and ice. Strong winds accompanied the cold front in the south end of the San Joaquin Valley and along the ridge tops and below the passes in the Kern County Mountains and Deserts. There were a few reports of minor wind damage from fallen trees and several locations measured gusts exceeding 40 mph while some low impact indicator sites briefly measured gusts exceeding 70 mph before the winds diminished by daybreak on January 17.