Heavy Snow — Central Sierra, California

2020-04-05 to 2020-04-06 · Central Sierra, California

Event narrative

The Ostrander Lake SNOTEL (8200 feet) picked up an estimated 25.0 inches of new snow.

Wider weather episode

A very cold and moist low pressure system dropped south out of the Gulf of Alaska on April 4 and moved slowly southward off the California coast on April 5 and 6. This system brought moderate to heavy precipitation to the area between the afternoon of April 5 to the afternoon of April 6. Several stations in the Sierra Nevada and adjacent foothills picked up between 1.5 and 3 inches of liquid precipitation while much of the eastern San Joaquin Valley picked up between 0.75 and 1.5 inches of rainfall. The west side of the San Joaquin Valley along with the Kern County Mountains and Deserts generally picked up between half and inch and an inch of rain. Several STOTEL stations in the Sierra Nevada above 5500 feet picked up an estimated 18 to 36 of new snowfall with a few stations above 8000 feet picking up higher amounts. There were reports of localized nuisance flooding, as a few thunderstorms popped up during the afternoon of April 6. One of the thunderstorms produced a funnel cloud near Laton which was observed by several spotters and reported by several media outlets.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 876206. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.