Another winter storm moved through on March 14th bringing additional heavy mountain snow down into the portions of the foothills, rain and gusty winds to interior northern California. A dusting of snow up to an inch was measured down to Redding at 681 feet in the northern Sacramento Valley.
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.
Another winter storm moved through on March 14th bringing additional heavy mountain snow down into the portions of the foothills, rain and gusty winds to interior northern California. A dusting of snow up to an inch was measured down to Redding at 681 feet in the northern Sacramento Valley.
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 14, 1:53 AM PST, 7 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Sacramento CA 253 AM PDT Fri Mar 14 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Active weather continues through the end of the week, with periods of moderate to heavy snow today. A brief early weekend lull will then be followed by another system Sunday into Monday with another potential system on the horizon later next week. Periods of moderate to occasional major travel impacts expected. && .DISCUSSION... A robust, but progressive shortwave is tracking toward interior NorCal early this morning. Radar returns are rapidly increasing across the region with the arrival of this system and periods of moderate to heavy precipitation are expected throughout the day. Heaviest precipitation is anticipated at higher elevations, generally above 2000 feet, although a low 5 to 15 percent chance of isolated thunderstorms will be possible later today from Interstate 80 southward. Additionally, a a window of gusty south- southeast winds is expected this morning through the early afternoon as a surface front progresses. Strongest Valley gusts up to 45 mph are expected from around Chico southward at this time, with a Wind Advisory in effect from 5am PDT this morning through 5pm PDT this evening. Outside of thunderstorms, mostly moderate precipitation is expected, with totals across the lower elevations remaining around 0.25 to 0.5 inches. Across the northern Sacramento Valley, Northeast foothills, and Sierra/southern Cascades, precipitation totals of 0.5 to 1.5 inches are anticipated. Snow levels are expected to remain relatively steady around 2000 to 3000 feet today for much of the region today, although some lingering uncertainty surrounding northern Sacramento Valley snow levels this morning does exist. This uncertainty is primarily tied to the strength of mid level frontogenesis with the approaching shortwave and the conditional impact of resultant localized cooling. While most accumulations are expected above 2000 feet, there is some nonzero potential for a brief period of accumulating snowfall as low as 1000 feet in the northern Sacramento Valley this morning. Otherwise, snowfall totals of 6 to 15 inches are expected above 2000 feet and up to 2 feet over peaks for the Coast Range and portions of the northern Sacramento Valley, including the northeast foothills, Burney Basin, and Shasta County mountains. Along the Sierra/southern Cascades, snowfall totals of 10 to 18 inches are expected above 4000 feet with up to 2 feet over peaks, while accumulations of 5 to 10 inches remain possible between 2000 and 4000 feet. Periods of moderate to major travel impacts are expected, with hazardous conditions along both the Interstate 80 and Interstate 5 (in Shasta County) corridors anticipated today. As the shortwave remains progressive, a brief period of ridging aloft looks to build in through most of the weekend. Some showers may linger across far northern Shasta County during this time, but predominantly dry weather is anticipated for the remainder of interior NorCal, although temperatures will remain near to slightly below normal. && .EXTENDED DISCUSSION (Monday THROUGH Friday)... Some uncertainty continues with the next expected trough late weekend into early next week, but additional periods of at least moderate precipitation are anticipated as it moves through. Ensemble guidance generally agrees that the overall trajectory of the system would favor potential for slightly higher precipitation totals relative to the Friday system, but some uncertainty regarding the magnitude of the attendant atmospheric river plume keeps forecast confidence in exact details low at this time. Current probabilities moving into next week are as follows: Probability of Rain > 1" Late Sunday-Tuesday AM: 20-40% Valley/foothills Probability of Snow > 12" Late Sunday-Tuesday AM: 60-95% above 4500' Probability of Wind Gusts > 40 mph Sunday: 60-95% north of I-80 Probability of Thunderstorms Monday: 15-25% It continues to look like most precipitation is expected to be coming to an end by Tuesday morning, with primarily lingering mountain showers anticipated at this time. Ensemble guidance is trending toward continued active weather moving into late next week, but consensus indicates a stretch of dry weather much of Tuesday through Wednesday. Regardless, be sure to monitor the latest forecast at weather.gov/sto and plan ahead for continued cool, wet and windy weather into early next week! && .AVIATION... While some localized VFR conditions will be possible at times, widespread MVFR/IFR conditions expected across interior NorCal much of the next 24 hours as a quick moving system moves through. Occasional periods of heavy precipitation may result in LIFR at times as well, particularly along higher terrain. Snow levels expected to remain steady around 2000 to 3000 feet today. South to west winds gusting 30 to 40 kts at times expected at TAF sites, gradually tapering off after 21z today. && .STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Storm Warning until 5 PM PDT this afternoon for Burney Basin / Eastern Shasta County-Mountains Southwestern Shasta County to Western Colusa County-Northeast Foothills/Sacramento Valley-Shasta Lake Area / Northern Shasta County-West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada-Western Plumas County/Lassen Park. Wind Advisory until 5 PM PDT this afternoon for Carquinez Strait and Delta-Central Sacramento Valley-Northern San Joaquin Valley- Southern Sacramento Valley. &&
6 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Nearby CoCoRaHS at similar elevations measured 3 to 4 inches of snow above 2000 feet. The National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center estimated 2 to 6 inches of snow above 2000 feet with 6 to 12 inches above 3000 feet.
A CoCoRaHS in western Shasta County measured 3.5 inches of snow at 1954 ft. The National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center estimated 1 to 4 inches of snow above 1000 feet with 2 to 4 inches above 2000 feet and up to 8 inches at the highest peaks.
Nearby CoCoRaHS at similar elevations measured 2 to 4 inches of snow above 2000 feet. The National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center estimated 1 to 6 inches of snow above 2000 feet.
Nearby CoCoRaHS at similar elevations measured 2 to 4 inches of snow above 3000 feet. The National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center estimated 1 to 4 inches of snow above 2000 feet with 4 to 6 inches above 3000 feet.
A CoCoRaHS in Chester measured 1.5 inches of snow at 4513 feet. The National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center estimated 2 to 6 inches of snow above 3000 feet with 4 to 8 inches above 3000 feet.
Caltrans District 3 measured 7 to 15 inches of snow along Interstate 80 above 5000 feet. UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab measured 10.6 inches of snow. Ski resorts in the Sierra measured 4 to 12 inches of snow above 6000 feet.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in California, March 2025
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: 1246932, 1246934, 1246935, 1246936, 1246939, 1246942.