Two storms brought heavy mountain snow with mountain travel delays and chain restrictions, widespread rain with flooding impacts, and thunderstorms to the area around the third week of January.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
Two storms brought heavy mountain snow with mountain travel delays and chain restrictions, widespread rain with flooding impacts, and thunderstorms to the area around the third week of January.
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 Jan 19, 1:50 AM PST, 10 hours 10 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Sacramento CA 150 AM PST Fri Jan 19 2024 .Synopsis... Patchy dense fog is possible across the northern San Joaquin Valleys this morning. An active weather pattern then arrives late today, lasting into early next week. Periods of moderate to heavy Valley and foothills rain and high elevation (snow levels generally 6000 feet or greater) mountain snow are expected with these periodic systems. There is also a slight (10 to 20%) chance for isolated Valley thunderstorms on Monday as well. && .DISCUSSION... High clouds are streaming over the forecast area this morning with some patchy fog expected, particularly in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. Exercise caution while traveling this morning and use low beams in areas of dense fog. Afternoon highs will be in the upper 50s and low 60s in the Valley with 50s and 40s in the foothills and mountains, with a few degrees cooler later this weekend as precipitation is ongoing. A weather system will bring rain and high elevation snow today and continue into early next week with periods of moderate to heavy rain and mountain snow. Although still actively precipitating, conditions taper slightly Sunday morning before re-intensifying late Sunday morning through Monday morning. Outside of the Northern Sacramento Valley and Coastal Range, the latter half of this weekend will be the heavier of two although recent runs have closed the QPF total gap between the two halves. Rain will begin along the west side of the Valley mid to late morning today and progress eastward across the Valley with snow developing Friday night. Current model runs show heaviest precip. rates occurring late Saturday morning and afternoon and then again Sunday afternoon and night. Snow levels will be generally 5500 to 6500 feet throughout the event , rising slightly to 6500 to 7000 feet south of Hwy. 50 on Sunday and Monday. From the Sacramento Valley to the Northern Sacramento Valley, probabilities of greater than 2 inches are 45-90%, increasing as you move northward up the Valley. For the mountains, probabilities of greater than 3 inches are 60-100% and highest in the Feather River Valley and Northern Sacramento Valley. Additionally with this system, there is the potential for some convection along the west side of the Valley Sunday evening and Monday morning that could enhance rain rates. This is a warm weather system comparatively to recent storms so snow is expected to be wet and heavy. Snow will broadly be in two waves from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning and Sunday morning through Monday. For elevations greater than 6500 feet, probabilities of greater than 12 inches are 50-100% and 40-80% for 18 inches. Overall, 2-3 feet of snow are expected by event's end in higher elevations. Snow will begin to taper off Monday afternoon and evening but linger throughout the night and next morning. Gusty southerly winds accompany the weather system, increasing Friday night into much of Saturday. In the Valley, strongest gusts will be Saturday morning with gusts 25 to 35 MPH. Similarly, mountain wind gusts will be up to 45 MPH and strongest on Saturday. Be sure to monitor the forecast and weather updates this weekend as conditions will impact travel and road conditions! && .EXTENDED DISCUSSION (Tuesday THROUGH Friday)... Ensembles and clusters indicate a zonal flow pattern over the Pacific on Tuesday. A shortwave moves through the area Tuesday night and Wednesday. Snow levels continue to be high at around 6000 feet or higher and not to impactful. This system looks to bring generally less than a quarter inch to most of the central valley with Redding around a half to three quarters of an inch. Probabilities of at least half an inch of rain range from 10-20% over the San Joaquin Valley to 25-35% Sacramento area to 35-70% central and Northern Sac Valley. Mountains range from 40% in the south to 45-80% north of US-50. A ridge will build over the region on Thursday to bring dry weather for the day but a warm front is forecast to spread over the top of the ridge Thursday night and Friday. Precipitation chances look best over the central Sacramento valley northward and over the mountains. Mild daytime high and nighttime low temperatures are expected though the expected period. && .AVIATION... Mainly VFR conditions except for the Central Valley, areas MVFR local IFR in mist and fog through 18z Friday. Surface wind mainly at or below 12 kts through 03Z Saturday then increasing overnight to 10 to 20kt with gusts to 25 kts after 03Z. && .STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Storm Watch from this evening through late Monday night for West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada-Western Plumas County/Lassen Park. &&
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
9 flood, 2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Lower Lassen Peak HADS station reported 6.4 inches of snow in 24 hours from January 19th into January 20th, at an elevation of 8234 ft. A CoCoRaHS in Chester reported 7 inches of snow in 24 hours on January 19th. The National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center estimated 10 to 36 inches over 72 hours.
Caltrans District 3 reported snow amounts of 5 to 10 inches along Interstate 80 over the January 21 through January 22nd timeframe. Ski resorts reported storm total snow amounts of 10 to 38 inches from January 19th through January 22nd. UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab reported 18.6 inches over the same timeframe.
California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding from heavy rain.
California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding from heavy rain.
California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding along Palermo Road near the Oroville area.
California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding from heavy rain.
California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding along West Patterson Road between 580 and Midway.
California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding at Terminal Ave and Claribel Road, completely covered with water.
California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding at the intersection of Jasper Lane and Spenceville Road.
California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding at the intersection of Paso Robles Avenue and Portero Drive.
California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding at the intersection of Dairy Road and Forty Mile Road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 2024
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: 1157537, 1157538, 1157539, 1157540, 1157541, 1157542, 1157543, 1157544, 1157545, 1157546, 1157547.