California, 2021

Winter Weather in California, January 25, 2021

January 25, 2021 · NWS VEF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A cold low pressure system passed through the Desert Southwest, bringing snow down to some desert floors and heavy snow to the higher elevations.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 VEF wrote it up.

A cold low pressure system passed through the Desert Southwest, bringing snow down to some desert floors and heavy snow to the higher elevations.

What forecasters said that day

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 Las Vegas, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 25, 9:20 AM PST, 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 25, 9:20 AM PST, 10 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Eastern Mojave Desert

When
January 25, 9:30 AM PST to 1:00 PM PST
Where
Eastern Mojave Desert forecast zone
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
34.841, -116.178 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snow in Mountain Pass closed Interstate 15 between Baker and Primm for three and a half hours.

What these are

Winter Weather
Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 2021

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 938752.