Heavy Snow — Upper San Joaquin River, California

2024-02-01 to 2024-02-02 · Upper San Joaquin River, California

Event narrative

The Green Mountain SNOTEL (7900 feet) picked up an estimated 22 inches of new snowfall.

Wider weather episode

The strong low pressure system which approached the area on January 31 pulled up a deep surge of tropical moisture which brought moderate to heavy precipitation to much of the area on February 1 through the morning of February 2. Much of the San Joaquin Valley, West Side Hills and Tehachapi Mountains measured between 0.75 inches and 1.50 inches of rainfall while the Sierra Foothills picked up 1 to 2 inches of rainfall ands the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada picked up 1.5 to 3 inches of liquid precipitation. The precipitation fell as snow above 6000 feet for much of this event with several higher elevation SNOTELs picking up an estimated 1 to 2 feet of new snow. In addition to the precipitation, there were several reports of wind gusts exceeding 60 mph near Tehachapi and in the Grapevine area during the early morning of February 1. When the main cold front from this system moved across central California during the afternoon of February 1, scattered thunderstorms broke out over the San Joaquin Valley and Sierra foothills. Some of the storms produced small hail and there were several reports of roadway flooding in Bakersfield. The precipitation tapered off by the morning of February 2.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1150560. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.