California, 2023

Heavy Snow and High Wind in California, March 21 to 22, 2023

March 21 to 22, 2023 · NWS VEF · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Strong low pressure moving into the West Coast brought heavy snow to the Sierra Nevada and isolated high winds to the Mojave Desert.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
2

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.

Strong low pressure moving into the West Coast brought heavy snow to the Sierra Nevada and isolated high winds to the Mojave Desert.

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 Mar 20, 1:44 PM PST, 19 hours 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 1:44 PM PST, 19 hours 16 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, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Eastern Sierra Slopes of Inyo County

When
March 21, 9:00 AM PST to March 22, 4:00 AM 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)

Another 14.4 inches of snow fell at Aspendell.

High Wind, Morongo Basin

When
March 21, 11:45 AM PST to 1:03 PM PST
Where
Morongo Basin forecast zone
Measured
59 kt (68 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
34.841, -116.178 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The peak gust occurred 7 miles E of Landers.

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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, March 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: 1089505, 1089504.