Heavy Snow — Kaiser To Rodgers Ridge, California

2024-04-04 to 2024-04-05 · Kaiser To Rodgers Ridge, California

Event narrative

The Tamarack Summit SNOTEL (7613 feet) picked up an estimated 20 inches of new snowfall.

Wider weather episode

A large cold upper trough moved across California on April 4 and 5 bringing significant rainfall, heavy mountain snowfall and strong winds to the interior of central California. The precipitation began during the morning of April 4 from Fresno County northward. The precipitation then spread southward by the evening of April 4 and brought a cold and unstable airmass to the area which provided for showers and thunderstorms which produced small hail during the afternoon and evening of April 5. Several higher elevations SNOTELs picked up an estimated 12 to 20 inches of new snowfall while precipitation totals were generally a quarter to half an inch of rain in the San Joaquin Valley, a half inch to an inch of liquid precipitation in the Sierra foothills and three quarters of an inch to an inch and a half of liquid precipitation in the higher Sierra Nevada. Snow levels were around 6000 feet at the onset of the precipitation during the morning of April 4, but rapidly lowered to around 3000 feet during the morning of April 5 as cooler air pushed into the area. Travel was adversely impacted in the Sierra foothills and also in the Tehachapi Mountains where travel along Interstate 5 was halted by a one hour closure of the Tejon Pass during the evening of April 5 due to snow and strong winds. In addition to the precipitation several stations reported wind gusts exceeding 60 mph. The precipitation ended by the early morning of April 6 as the cold trough moved east into the Great Basin area.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1161452. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.