A winter weather system brought light to locally moderate amounts of snow to the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascades. Mountain travel delays were observed.
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.
The episode as NWS STO wrote it up.
A winter weather system brought light to locally moderate amounts of snow to the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascades. Mountain travel delays were observed.
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 Mar 19, 1:40 AM PST, 6 hours 20 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Sacramento CA 240 AM PDT Sat Mar 19 2022 .SYNOPSIS... Showers return today with mountain snow causing travel impacts to the weekend travelers. Dry with breezy north wind early next week. Unseasonably warm weather by the middle of next week. && .DISCUSSION... Current IR satellite shows the next weather system beginning to move into Northern California in the early morning hours. The upper trough will continue to move through the area throughout the day, bringing another round of precipitation. Latest ensemble guidance has quickened the timing of the weather system impacting interior NorCal. CAMS show the main push of precipitation now beginning a couple of hours after sunrise over the northern counties and the Sierra, with some lighter showers possible in the northern counties ahead of this. Precipitation will slowly move southeast across the forecast area through the morning hours, and heaviest Sierra snow is now expected in the late morning and afternoon hours. Unfortunately, because the movement of the weather system will be quicker, latest QPF and snow amounts have decreased. QPF across the Valley is now mainly 0.10-0.25 inch, locally up to 0.30-0.50 inch in stronger showers. Snow amounts north of Interstate 80 are forecast around 2-4 inches, with 4-6 inches, locally up to 10 inches, for areas south of Interstate 80. Snow levels remain around 5,000-5,500 feet. However, the convective nature of this system could result in localized higher snow amounts or periods of brief heavy snow in stronger cells. Travelers should be prepared for chain controls, travel delays, and hazardous travel conditions due to snow covered mountain passes. A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect, especially due to the heaviest snow falling during peak travel time on a Saturday afternoon. Isolated thunderstorm chances are increasing for the Valley and lower foothills this afternoon and evening. 06z NAM indicates a pretty widespread area of CAPE 100-400 J/kg across most of the Valley, and HREF indicates 20-60% probability of over 40 dBZ echos, as well. Best chance of strong showers and thunderstorms is around noon-8pm for areas near and north of Marysville and the Modesto area and south, though can't rule out any cells forming elsewhere in the Valley and foothills. Any strong cells or isolated thunderstorms that develop could produce small accumulating hail, locally breezy winds, brief heavy downpours, and lighting. Temperatures will be much cooler today with Valley temperatures in the upper 50s to near 60, low 50s in the foothills, and 30s to 40s in the mountains. As the trough digs southeast into the Desert SW on Sunday, breezy north to east winds will develop Sunday afternoon and evening with gusts up to 20-30 mph, locally higher in wind prone mountain gaps, canyons, and ridgetops. Ensemble guidance is in good agreement that a strong upper level ridge will build over the Eastern Pacific by Monday, with the axis shifting eastward over California by Tuesday. Daytime temperatures will climb roughly 10 degrees each day from today (Saturday) to Tuesday, swinging from 5-10 degrees below normal on Saturday to 15-25 degrees above normal on Tuesday. Tuesdays daytime temperatures will be in the low to mid 80s in the Valley, upper 70s to low 80s in the foothills, and 50s to low 70s in the mountains. This extreme swing will likely cause these above normal temperatures to feel abnormally warm, so those with outdoor recreation plans should be prepared. -HEC && .EXTENDED DISCUSSION (Wednesday THROUGH Saturday)... Ensembles still indicate likelihood of very warm weather (highs around 15-25 degrees above average) during the middle of next week as strong ridging moves in from the eastern Pacific. EC EFI and NBM point toward the warmest temperatures occurring on Wednesday when widespread highs in the mid to upper 80s are expected across the Central Valley, and some areas of the valley will have a chance of seeing their first 90 degree readings of the year. Overnight lows will also be fairly mild, especially for the foothill and mountain thermal belts. The ridge is forecast to flatten late in the week as several short-waves pass to the north leading to gradual synoptic cooling. A return of onshore flow will also help to cool high temperatures by about 10-15 degrees (compared to Wednesday) by next weekend. && .AVIATION... Pacific weather system will move through NorCal today bringing showers, mountain snow and a few thunderstorms. MVFR conditions will likely develop at the Central Valley TAF sites between 17Z- 20Z continuing until about 00Z Sunday. Isolated thunderstorms most likely 21Z-02Z with small hail and surface wind gusts 25-35 kts in the vicinity. In the Sierra, widespread precipitation with IFR/LIFR conditions expected to develop by 15Z and continue until about 06Z Sunday (snow levels 050-060). Surface wind gusts mostly less than 12 kts except areas southwesterly 20-30 kts northern Sierra 15Z-21Z. && .STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory from 8 AM this morning to 11 PM PDT this evening for Burney Basin / Eastern Shasta County-West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada-Western Plumas County/Lassen Park. &&
2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Sierra snow lab reported 3.9 inches of new snow accumulation. Strong winds were also observed during the event with recorded gusts at ASOS stations over the Sierra Crest reaching 79-82 mph on the 19th.
CoCoRaHS observer reported 4 inches of snow during the event 1.5 miles SSW of Soda Springs.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in California, March 2022
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: 1016762, 1016764.