Heavy Snow, Central Sierra
- When
- March 15, 7:00 PM PST to March 16, 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- Central Sierra forecast zone
- Reported by
- SNOTEL
The Graveyard Meadow SNOTEL picked up an estimated 22 inches of new snow.
Heavy Snow in California, March 15 to 16, 2020
A low pressure system dropped slowly southward along the California coast on March 15 and 16. This system produced widespread precipitation across the area between the evening of March 15 and the afternoon of March 16.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 9
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 HNX wrote it up.
A low pressure system dropped slowly southward along the California coast on March 15 and 16. This system produced widespread precipitation across the area between the evening of March 15 and the afternoon of March 16. Snow levels plummeted to as low as 2000 feet during the afternoon of March 16 before the precipitation tapered off. Several stations in the mountains picked up heavy snowfall and much of the Sierra Nevada and adjacent foothills picked up between 1 to 2 inches of liquid precipitation while much of the San Joaquin Valley picked up between a quarter inch and an inch of rainfall.
Event by event
9 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Central Sierra
- When
- March 15, 7:00 PM PST to March 16, 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- Central Sierra forecast zone
- Reported by
- SNOTEL
The Chilkoot Meadow SNOTEL picked up an estimated 31 inches of new snow.
Heavy Snow, Central Sierra
- When
- March 15, 7:00 PM PST to March 16, 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- Central Sierra forecast zone
- Reported by
- SNOTEL
The Ostrander Lake SNOTEL picked up an estimated 26 inches of new snow.
Heavy Snow, Central Sierra
- When
- March 15, 7:00 PM PST to March 16, 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- Central Sierra forecast zone
- Reported by
- SNOTEL
The Agnew Pass SNOTEL picked up an estimated 19 inches of new snow.
Heavy Snow, North Kings River
- When
- March 15, 7:00 PM PST to March 16, 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- North Kings River forecast zone
- Reported by
- SNOTEL
The Tamarack Summit SNOTEL picked up an estimated 31 inches of new snow.
Heavy Snow, Central Sierra
- When
- March 15, 7:00 PM PST to March 16, 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- Central Sierra forecast zone
- Reported by
- SNOTEL
The Green Mountain SNOTEL picked up an estimated 19 inches of new snow.
Heavy Snow, Central Sierra
- When
- March 15, 7:00 PM PST to March 16, 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- Central Sierra forecast zone
- Reported by
- SNOTEL
The Devils Postpile SNOTEL picked up an estimated 19 inches of new snow.
Heavy Snow, Central Sierra
- When
- March 16, 3:00 AM PST to 3:00 PM PST
- Where
- Central Sierra forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
A trained spotter estimated 12 inches of new snow in Fish Camp.
Heavy Snow, Fort Tejon
- When
- March 16, 7:00 AM PST to 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- Fort Tejon forecast zone
- Reported by
- Broadcast Media
Broadcast media reports of up to 12 inches of new snow at Pine Mountain Club (6100 feet).
What these are
- 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
More
Every storm in California in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in California, March 2020
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 872214, 872219, 872220, 872221, 872222, 872223, 872224, 872051, 872052.