California, 2022

Heavy Snow in California, December 31, 2022

December 31, 2022 · NWS VEF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Another atmospheric river and low pressure system brought high wind and heavy snow to the Sierra Nevada. The episode continued into January 2023.

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.

Another atmospheric river and low pressure system brought high wind and heavy snow to the Sierra Nevada. The episode continued into January 2023.

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 Dec 31, 2:10 AM PST, 6 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 31, 2:10 AM PST, 6 hours 50 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 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Eastern Sierra Slopes of Inyo County

When
December 31, 9:00 AM PST to 11:59 PM PST
Where
Eastern Sierra Slopes of Inyo County forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
36.511, -117.411 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A total of 30.7 inches of snow fell at Aspendell. The event continued into January 2023.

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 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 2022

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: 1069162.