Heavy Snow — Tulare Cty Mtns, California

2018-11-28 to 2018-11-30 · Tulare Cty Mtns, California

Event narrative

The Tamarack Summit SNOTEL picked up an estimated 23 inches of new snow.

Wider weather episode

A deep upper trough approached the California coast on November 28 spreading moisture into central California. A subtropical jet brought a deep moisture fetch into central California by the morning of November 28 producing moderate to heavy precipitation over the area which continued into the afternoon. The rainfall resulted in debris flows and mudslides near recently burned areas in the southern Sierra foothills including over the Ferguson Burn area which resulted in the closure of State Highway 140 near El Portal. The trough moved inland on November 29 producing another round of moderate to heavy precipitation with several stations in the Southern Sierra Nevada and adjacent foothills measuring between 2 and 5 inches of rainfall while much of the San Joaquin Valley and Kern County Mountains received half and inch to an inch and a half of rain during the two day period. Snow levels lowered to 5500 feet on November 29, and several reports of a foot and a half to 3 feet of new snowfall estimated by SNOTELs. Strong winds also impacted the area on November 29 and several stations measured winds gusts exceeding 55 mph while a few low impact indicator sites measured gusts around 70 mph. As a colder, unstable post-frontal airmass pushed into the area during the afternoon of November 29, isolated thunderstorms moved through the San Joaquin Valley producing brief downpours, small hail and gusty winds. The precipitation tapered off by the early morning of November 30 as the trough moved out of the area.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 787883. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.