Heavy Snow — Upper San Joaquin River, California

2024-03-29 to 2024-03-31 · Upper San Joaquin River, California

Event narrative

The Green Mountain SNOTEL (7900 feet) picked up an estimated 20 inches of new snowfall.

Wider weather episode

A large upper low pressure system dropped southward off the northern California coast on March 29 which spread widespread precipitation into central California by evening. The low continued to drop further southward on March 30 which resulted in a period of moderate to heavy snowfall above 5000 feet in the Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi Mountains. Several higher elevation SNOTELs in the Sierra Nevada picked up between 10 and 20 inches of new snowfall. Much of the San Joaquin Valley, West Side Hills and Kern County Deserts picked up between a quarter and three quarters of an inch of rainfall while the Sierra foothills picked up between half an inch to an inch and half of rainfall. The higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada picked up between one and two inches of liquid precipitation. The low finally moved onshore over northern Baja on March 31 resulting in the precipitation slowly tapering off. Some thunderstorms did impact the San Joaquin Valley during the evening of March 31 producing gusty winds and small hail.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1161043. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.