Heavy Snow — Tulare Cty Mtns, California

2017-11-16 to 2017-11-17 · Tulare Cty Mtns, California

Event narrative

The SNOTEL at Upper Tyndall Creek (11400 feet) picked up an estimated 14 inches of new snowfall.

Wider weather episode

A strong upper trough pushed through the Pacific Northwest on November 16 and 17. A fetch of deep moisture of tropical origin was pulled up ahead of this trough and brought moderate to heavy precipitation to Merced and Mariposa Counties as well as to Yosemite National Park. Several locations in Yosemite National Park measured between 2 and 4 inches of rainfall while several mountain and foothill stations in Madera, Fresno and Tulare Counties picked up over an inch of rain. Snow was basically confined to elevations above 8000 feet as a warm airmass prevailed over the region. Several SNOTELs above 9000 feet did pick up between 1 and 2 feet of fresh snowfall as this was the first significant storm of the season at the higher elevations.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 722798. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.