Heavy Snow — Sequoia Kings, California

2019-11-20 · Sequoia Kings, California

Event narrative

Public report of an estimated 6 inches of new snowfall at Ponderosa (7200 feet).

Wider weather episode

The low pressure center which approached the California coast on November 19 moved inland across southern California on November 20. This system produced widespread precipitation across the area with the most significant precipitation impacting Kern and Tulare Counties. Flooding along State Route 99 in the Wheeler Ridge and Mettler areas resulted in the highway being closed for a period of time. The Grapevine and Frazier Park areas generally picked up between half and inch and an inch of liquid precipitation while many locations in the Tehachapi and Lake Isabella areas and the Kern County Deserts as well as the southern Sierra Nevada in Tulare County picked up between a quarter inch and a half inch of precipitation. The snow level was generally around 6000 feet, but briefly lowered to 5000 feet at times in heavier showers. Most locations in the mountains in Kern and Tulare Counties above 6000 feet picked up between 6 and 9 inches of snow while there were some locally higher accumulations around Pine Mountain Club. Further north, precipitation amounts were much lower with most locations picking up less than a tenth of an inch.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 856903. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.