Heavy Snow — Grant Grove Area, California

2021-12-13 to 2021-12-14 · Grant Grove Area, California

Event narrative

The Big Meadows SNOTEL (7599 ft) picked up an estimated 35 inches of new snowfall.

Wider weather episode

A strong low pressure system dropped southeast out of the Gulf of Alaska on December 12 and intensified off the Pacific Northwest coast on December 13 pulling up some deep moisture which was pushed into central California during the afternoon. The precipitation intensified during the evening of December 13 through the morning of December 14 as the low carved out a deep upper trough which pushed across California during the afternoon of December 14. This system produced 2 to 4 inches of liquid precipitation over the Sierra Nevada from Sequoia National Park northward and 1 to 3 inches of liquid precipitation south of Sequoia Park. The precipitation fell mainly in the form of snow above 5500 feet and several high elevation SNOTELs estimated 2 to 4 feet of new snowfall. The snow level lowered to as low as 1500 feet during the evening of December 14 as the cooler airmass behind the system pushed into central California. Much of the San Joaquin Valley picked up between 1 to 2 inches of rainfall while the Kern County Mountains picked up between 0.75 and 1.5 inches of liquid precipitation. The Kern County Desert areas only picked up between a quarter and a half inch of rain at most locations due to rain shadowing. The storm produced widespread minor nuisance flooding in the San Joaquin Valley and Sierra foothills with a few rock slides noticed. Several roads were closed as a precaution and chain restrictions were implemented on some roads in the Sierra Nevada. The storm also produced strong winds over the West Side Hills as well as in the Grapevine and Tehachapi areas in Kern County. Several stations in these areas measured wind gusts exceeding 50 mph with a few locations near the Grapevine measuring brief gusts exceeding 70 mph.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 988976. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.