Thunderstorm Wind — Butte, California

2023-02-21 · near (cic)chico Muni Arpt, Butte, California

Event narrative

More than 800 PG&E customers in the downtown area of Chico were without power on the afternoon of 2/21. The outage was between Main Street and Orange Street and between W. 1st Street and W. 7th Street. Some traffic lights were reported out. Winds at Chico Airport were sustained at 31 mph with gusts to 49.5 mph.

Wider weather episode

A powerful and cold storm system with heavy snow and gusty winds brought blizzard conditions. Snow amounts of 2 to near 5 feet were reported in the mountains. Significant snow fell down into the northern Sacramento Valley, with 3 to 8 inches of accumulation impacting travel. Many schools were closed or had delays. Wind gusts of 40-60 mph were recorded across the area, with gusts locally higher in the high elevations of the northern Sierra. The winds and low snow combined to cause dangerous travel conditions numerous road closures, including a closure of Interstate 5 north of Fawndale, on US Highway 50 and an extended closure of Interstate 80 across the Sierra.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.8000, -121.8500)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1083229. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.