Name: Cold in California, June 15 to 16, 2024
Start: 2024-06-15T11:29
End: 2024-06-16T11:29
Location: California

The toll

Deaths: 1
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 STO wrote it up.

An adult male in his 30s went missing from a large party that was rafting down the American River toward Rossmoor Bar around 11:29 AM on Saturday, June 15th, 2024. The man was not wearing a life jacket and was swept underwater, last seen at Clay Banks. Cold and fast moving waterways were being observed due to snowmelt, twice the average flow for this time of year, and water temperatures in the upper 50s to low 60s.

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 Jun 15, 12:50 AM PST, 10 hours 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 15, 12:50 AM PST, 10 hours 39 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Sacramento CA
150 AM PDT Sat Jun 15 2024

.SYNOPSIS...
Critical fire weather conditions likely Saturday night through
Sunday night across the Sacramento Valley due to gusty northerly
winds and low relative humidity. Below average temperatures and
dry conditions continue over the next several days.

&&

.DISCUSSION...

Key Points
- A Red Flag Warning is in effect from 11 PM Saturday - 8 PM
  Sunday across the majority of the Sacramento Valley due to low
  daytime relative humidity, gusty northerly winds, and poor
  overnight recoveries.
- Northerly winds continue early next week maintaining some
  locally elevated fire weather conditions Monday and Tuesday

Skies are mostly clear across the region early this morning other
than some patches of high clouds moving through associated with
the PacNW trough. Onshore gradient continues to predominate other
than breezy northwest winds that have developed over the far
northern end of the Sacramento Valley. The trough will maintain
temperatures near to slightly below average into early next week
and precipitation chances will remain north of the region. Bouts
of north wind are expected in the Sacramento Valley, mainly Sunday
and again Monday, and combined with low RH will result in periods
of critical fire weather conditions and a Red Flag Warning remains
in effect.

&&

.EXTENDED DISCUSSION (Wednesday THROUGH Saturday)...
Warming trend expected through the extended forecast period as
upper troughing midweek weakens and progress and is eventually
replaced by upper ridging next weekend. As a result, near normal
high temperatures Wednesday will warm to triple digit heat
throughout most of the Central Valley by Saturday.

&&

.AVIATION...
VFR conditions over interior NorCal next 24 hrs. Sfc wind mainly
at or below 12 kts except vcnty of Delta SWly sfc up to 20 kts.

&&

.STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Red Flag Warning from 11 PM this evening to 8 PM PDT Sunday for
Central Sacramento Valley in Glenn, Colusa, Yuba, Northern
Sutter, and Butte County Below 1000 Ft-Eastern Mendocino NF-
Northern Sacramento Valley to Southern Tehama County Line Below
1000 Ft-Northern Sierra Foothills from 1000 to 3000 Ft. Includes
portions of Shasta-Trinity and Butte Units-Northern Sierra
Including Lassen NP and Plumas and Lassen NF/S West of the
Sierra Crest (West of Evans Peak-Grizzly Peak-Beckworth Peak)-
Southeast Edge Shasta-Trinity NF and Western Portions of Tehama-
Glenn Unit-Southern Sacramento Valley in Yolo-Sacramento Far
Western Placer, southern Sutter and Solano County Below 1000 Ft.

&&

Event by event

1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Cold/Wind Chill, Southern Sacramento Valley

When: June 15, 11:29 AM PST to June 16, 11:29 AM PST
Where: Southern Sacramento Valley forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: Broadcast Media

An adult male in his 30s went missing from a large party that was rafting down the American River toward Rossmoor Bar around 11:29 AM on Saturday, June 15th, 2024. The man was not wearing a life jacket and was swept underwater, last seen at Clay Banks. Numerous resources were called to search, including firefighters, a Sacramento Metro Fire helicopter and search party, Sacramento Drowning Accident Rescue Team (DART), and Sacramento County Sheriff's Office. His body was recovered in the morning, on Sunday, June 16th, 2024. Broadcast media reported that a sizable Sierra snowpack has led to river levels that are higher and faster than usual for this time of year, and that recent flows on the river at Fair Oaks were measured as fast as 3,600 cubic feet per second, twice the mean average for this time of year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Water temperature observations nearby showed temperatures in the upper 50s to low 60s around the general area.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Cold/Wind Chill, Southern Sacramento Valley	2024-06-15	30	Male	In Water	Direct

What these are

Cold/Wind Chill: Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2024 Every state in 2024 This day in weather history Warnings in California, June 2024

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1174700.