California, 2022Winter Storm in California, February 21 to 23, 2022
February 21 to 23, 2022 · NWS STO · 5 events in 1 county or zone
A cold weather system brought moderate to locally heavy amounts of snow to the Sierra Nevada. Low snow levels brought a dusting of snow down to around|2500 feet.
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 5
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.
A cold weather system brought moderate to locally heavy amounts of snow to the Sierra Nevada. Low snow levels brought a dusting of snow down to around|2500 feet. Chain controls, road closures and mountain travel delays were observed.
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 Sacramento, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 21, 2:31 PM PST, 1 hour 29 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 21, 2:31 PM PST, 1 hour 29 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Sacramento CA
231 PM PST Mon Feb 21 2022
.SYNOPSIS...
Cooler and more unsettled weather returns today and Tuesday as a
cold weather system affects the region. Behind the system,
freezing temperatures will be possible in the Central Valley each
night during the mid and late part of the week.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Long wave troughing is building over the west and that is going
to bring a cooler more unsettled weather pattern for us over the
next few days. A short wave brought a few light snow showers to
the mountains this morning and that has now pushed off to the
south and east. A stronger short wave will then drop down later
today into the overnight. We will see more widespread snow with
this short wave along with some shower chances in the lower
elevations. Showers will increase in coverage later this afternoon
mainly over the mountains with the best shower chances during the
evening and early overnight. Showers will diminish during the
morning but with us in the trough axis tomorrow we will see
scattered showers redevelop during the late morning and afternoon.
Once again best chances will be over the mountains but a few
isolated showers will be possible over the southern Sacramento
Valley and northern San Joaquin Valley. Given the cold nature of
this trough we will see some elevated instability tomorrow mainly
over the southern half of the area. Thunderstorm chances look low
but not zero. Small hail will be possible with any of the more
intense cells tomorrow along with locally low snow levels.
QPF with this system will be generally 0.40-1.0" over the
Sierra with some local areas up to 1.30", less than 0.30" in the
foothills and 0.00-0.05" in the lower elevations. Snow levels are
2000-3000 feet today but will be falling to 1000-2000 feet
overnight as cold air builds in. With this being a cold weather
system we will see higher snow ratios and 1-2 feet of snow will be
possible above 6000 feet with 8-12 inches above 4000 feet.
Lighter snow amounts will be possible in the foothills, and
further north in the southern Cascade Range. A dusting of snow may
occur down to around 1k ft in the foothills.
As this system moves out we will see cold air settle into the
region. This is going to bring cold overnight temperatures with
them falling near to below freezing in the valley and foothills
and into the single digits and teens in the mountains. Wednesday night
is looking to be the coldest night this week with some lows
getting close to or breaking their daily record. Daytime highs
will also be chilly running 5-15 below average.
-CJM
&&
.EXTENDED DISCUSSION (Friday THROUGH Monday)...
Cold air will be in place for the start of the extended period.
This will bring another chilly night with sub freezing
temperatures in the valley and foothills with teens and 20s in the
mountains. Upper level ridging builds in during the day Friday
and into the weekend and that will bring a warming trend along
with quiet weather. The ridge will push east on Sunday and a short
wave trough will push east over the region. Ensembles are in
disagreement with the strength of this wave and right now it looks
like a few light showers will be possible over the northern
mountains. Upper level ridging builds back in on Monday.
-CJM
&&
.AVIATION...
Generally VFR for interior Northern California TAF sites for the
next 24 hrs. North to west surface wind gusts 15 to 25 kts
possible. Light rain and snow showers forming over the mountains
this afternoon will become more widespread and heavier after 00z.
Snow levels beginning around 2,700 to 3,300 ft, falling to 1,500
to 2,000 ft by early Tuesday.
&&
.STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Winter Weather Advisory until 10 PM PST Tuesday for Motherlode-
Northeast Foothills/Sacramento Valley-Western Plumas
County/Lassen Park.
Winter Storm Warning until 10 PM PST Tuesday for West Slope
Northern Sierra Nevada.
Freeze Watch from late Tuesday night through Friday morning for
Carquinez Strait and Delta-Central Sacramento Valley-Motherlode-
Northeast Foothills/Sacramento Valley-Northern Sacramento Valley-
Northern San Joaquin Valley-Southern Sacramento Valley.
&&
Winter Storm, West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada
- When
- February 21, 4:00 PM PST to February 22, 10:00 PM PST
- Where
- West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada forecast zone
- Reported by
- Public
Sierra Nevada Ski Resorts reported between 16 and 21 inches of snow accumulation for the entire event. Kirkwood reported 21 inches, Dodge Ridge reported 16 inches, Sugar Bowl 18 inches, and Bear Valley got 17 inches of total snow. Strong winds were also observed during the event with recorded gusts over the Sierra Crest reaching 98-124 mph on the 21st and 85-107 mph on the 22nd.
Winter Storm, West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada
- When
- February 21, 4:00 PM PST to February 22, 10:00 PM PST
- Where
- West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada forecast zone
- Reported by
- Public
Sierra snow lab reported 15.9 inches of new snow accumulation.
Winter Storm, West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada
- When
- February 21, 4:00 PM PST to February 22, 10:00 PM PST
- Where
- West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada forecast zone
- Reported by
- Department of Highways
Caltrans reported 21 inches of new snow at their Kingvale location. Chain controls were in place on I80 for most of the time period between the 2st through the morning of the 23rd. Traffic was also closed to through traffic on I-80 for around 6 hours on the 22nd.
Winter Storm, West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada
- When
- February 21, 10:00 PM PST to February 23, 7:00 AM PST
- Where
- West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
Pacific House reported 7 inches of storm total snow.
Winter Storm, West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada
- When
- February 21, 10:00 PM PST to February 23, 7:00 AM PST
- Where
- West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada forecast zone
- Reported by
- CoCoRaHS
CoCoRaHS observers reported several inches of snow during the event. 6.6 miles ESE of Placerville at an elevation of 2587 feet saw 1 inch. 1.2 miles N of Camino at an elevation of 3091 feet saw 2.7 inches. 1.6 NNE of Arnold at an elevation of 4020 feet saw 5.5 inches.
- Winter Storm
- A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Dust Storm and High Wind in Nevada, February 21 to 24, 20221 death · 9 injured · 65 kt wind · 3 events
- Winter Weather in South Dakota, February 21 to 22, 20221 death · 24 events
- Winter Weather in Minnesota, February 21 to 22, 20221 death · $10,000 · 1 event
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, February 21 to 22, 2022$784,000 · 2 in hail · 36 events
- Winter Weather in Washington, February 21, 2022$200,000 · 1 event
- Dust Storm and High Wind in Arizona, February 21 to 23, 2022$100,000 · 57 kt wind · 4 events
- Ice Storm in Michigan, February 21 to 22, 2022$35,000 · 6 events
- Extreme Cold and Heavy Snow in Wyoming, February 21 to 23, 202229 events
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Nevada, February 21 to 22, 20223 injured · 2 events
- Extreme Cold and Heavy Snow in California, February 21 to 25, 202262 kt wind · 20 events
- Winter Weather in Wisconsin, February 21 to 22, 202220 events
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, February 21 to 22, 202217 events
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: 1007818, 1007819, 1007820, 1008427, 1008428.