California, 2023

Heavy Snow in California, February 27 to 28, 2023

February 27 to 28, 2023 · NWS VEF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Cold low pressure digging down the West Coast brought heavy snow to the Sierra Nevada range. The episode continued into March.

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.

Cold low pressure digging down the West Coast brought heavy snow to the Sierra Nevada range. The episode continued into March.

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 Feb 26, 8:05 PM PST, 5 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 26, 8:05 PM PST, 5 hours 55 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
February 27, 2:00 AM PST to February 28, 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 12.8 inches of snow fell at Aspendell. The event continued into March.

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 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2023

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: 1084290.