Winter Weather — Grapevine, California

2023-04-03 · Grapevine, California

Event narrative

California Highway Patrol paced traffic along Interstate 5 between Lebec and Gorman during a portion of the morning of April 3 due to light snowfall and blowing snow.

Wider weather episode

An upper level trough dropped into the Great Basin from the Pacific Northwest on April 3. This resulted in a period of strong winds across the ridge tops and downslope prone areas over the Sierra Nevada south of Sequoia Park and the Tehachapi Mountains. Several stations measured wind gusts exceeding 60 mph while a few low impact indicator stations measured gusts above 70 mph. This system also produced light precipitation over the Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi Mountains with several SNOTEL stations above 6000 feet picking up between 2 and 5 inches of estimated new snowfall. Some light snowfall was also observed near the Tejon Pass along Interstate 5 during the morning of April 3. The trough moved east of the area by the morning of April 4 giving way to a warming and drying trend across the area.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1080497. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.