Cold/Wind Chill — West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada, California

2019-06-23 to 2019-06-24 · West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada, California

Event narrative

On June 23, Nevada County Sheriff's Office received a call that a swimmer went into the water of the Emerald Pools Recreation Area, was overtaken by the current, and that the group of friends lost sight of him. A multi-agency search and rescue was started that afternoon, but the victim was not recovered until the following day. The Sheriff's office noted that the water temperature was about 40 degrees Fahrenheit for this event.

Wider weather episode

Rivers remained unusually cold and fast moving due to the deep Sierra snow pack continued melt, which contributed to multiple drownings over a stretch of days.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 837675. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.