Winter Weather — Kings Canyon Np, California

2023-09-30 · Kings Canyon Np, California

Event narrative

Several SNOTEL stations picked up an estimated 3 to 5 inches of new snowfall.

Wider weather episode

A strong upper low pressure center moved through northern California on September 30. This system brought widespread precipitation to the area although amounts were generally light. Much of the Sierra Nevada picked up between a quarter to a half inch of liquid precipitation with a tenth a a quarter of an inch of rain falling in the adjacent foothills and generally a tenth of an inch or less in the San Joaquin Valley, West Side Hills and in the Tehachapi Mountains. The snow level was around 9500 feet at the onset of the precipitation during the morning of September 30 and lowered to around 8000 feet by the afternoon. Several higher elevation SNOTEL stations picked up between 2 and 5 inches of snowfall in what was the first significant winter storm of the season. An NWS incident meteorologist on dispatch to the Big Stump Redwood prescribed burn in Sequoia National Park sent a video of frequent lightning near the burn site during the morning of September 30.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1129305. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.