Frost/Freeze — Central Sacramento Valley, California

2022-02-24 to 2022-02-25 · Central Sacramento Valley, California

Event narrative

Temperatures dropped below the critical threshold of 28 degrees for several days in late February. Several locations in the region reported temperatures as low as 25 degrees during the event with subfreezing conditions persisting for several hours each day. The Colusa County agricultural commissioner reported that severe crop damage was likely across much of Zone 16 in the Sacramento Valley. They also mentioned the disaster threshold is 30% damage across the entire county, and the damage from this event may have spanned as many as five counties in the region. Zone 16 region was reported to have seen the most extensive damage from the cold snap with one farmer in Sutter county reporting as much as 60% of his orchard was damaged. Farmers anticipate total damage to their orchards to be determined when crops are harvested.

Wider weather episode

A cold spell brought subfreezing temperatures to Northern California for several days. Regional agriculture was severely impacted with temperatures dipping below critical thresholds for spring buds, specifically on fruit and nut trees. Blooms were also about 10 days sooner than average leading to greater impacts to farmers. Mitigation efforts were used to save crops, however the Colusa County Agricultural Commissioner reported as many as 5 counties were severely impacted.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1010289. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.