Blizzard — West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada, California

2024-03-01 to 2024-03-03 · West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada, California

Event narrative

Caltrans reported storm total amounts of 106 inches at Kingvale, 116 inches at Soda Springs, 31 inches at Blue Canyon, and 66 inches at Eagle Lakes from February 29th through the morning of March 4th. Ski resorts measured snow amounts of 60 to 120 inches over the same timeframe. The UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab reported a storm total amount of 75.2 inches. Weather stations generally measured wind gusts of 50 to 80 mph across the mountains, with higher gusts at the higher peaks. There was a report of 114 mph gust at Duncan RAWS, and 171 mph gust at 2.0 SW Alpine Meadows.

Wider weather episode

The coldest and snowiest storm of the season that started on February 29th lingered into early March, bringing blizzard conditions to the Sierra with heavy mountain snow and strong, gusty winds. Rain and thunderstorms were also observed. Extended road closures and chain restrictions were observed in the mountains, with widespread power outages. Pacific Gas and Electric reported approximately 280,000 customers impacted due to the winter storm.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1165548. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.