Blizzard — Santa Barbara County Interior Mountains, California

2023-02-24 to 2023-02-25 · Santa Barbara County Interior Mountains, California

Event narrative

Rare blizzard conditions developed in the mountains of Santa Barbara county. Heavy snowfall was reported with totals between 1 and 3 feet reported above 4500 feet. Along with the heavy snowfall, strong southerly winds, gusting up to 65 MPH, produced dangerous winter weather conditions with visibilities of near zero miles.

Wider weather episode

A powerful winter storm brought heavy rain, heavy snow and strong winds to Southwestern California. Rainfall totals ranged from 2 to 5 inches across coastal and valleys areas with 4 to 10 inches across the foothills and mountains. Snow levels dropped down, resulting in significant snowfall across the mountains. Below 5000 feet, 6 to 12 inches of snow was reported while the resort level (greater than 6000 feet) received 2 to 5 feet of snowfall. With the snowfall and strong winds, a Blizzard Warning was issues for the mountains of Ventura and Los Angeles counties. As for winds, peak gusts of 60 to 80 MPH were reported.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1084336. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.