Heavy Snow — Kern River Valley, California

2025-01-25 to 2025-01-27 · Kern River Valley, California

Event narrative

Public report of Facebook of an estimated 8 inches of new snowfall at Wofford Heights.

Wider weather episode

A cold low pressure system dropped southward over northern California on January 25 and picked up moisture from a shortwave system that was pushing through northern Baja. This resulted in light to moderate precipitation bring spread into into central California as the low dropped southward along the central California coast. Snow levels lowered to near 3000 feet by the evening of January 25, and showery precipitation continued through the early morning of January 27 when the low moved to the east of the area. Much of the San Joaquin Valley picked up between a tenth and a quarter inch of rainfall while the Kern County Deserts picked up a quarter to half an inch of rainfall. The Sierra Nevada and adjacent foothills along with the Tehachapi Mountains and the Kern River Valley generally picked up between a quarter and three quarters of an inch of liquid precipitation with several stations picking up an estimated 4 to 10 inches of new snowfall.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1224791. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.