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Snow in Fresno? It's Happened 48 Times and Could Again Soon
Bill McEwen updated website photo 2024
By Bill McEwen, News Director
Published 2 years ago on
February 22, 2023

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A winter storm is expected to produce a California rarity: snow from its northern edge all the way to the Mexican border.

And, according to the National Weather Service, the Fresno area could see rain and snow showers Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

The snow level in the central San Joaquin Valley is expected to be at about 1,000 feet, but the NWS isn’t ruling out snow for the Valley floor.

The cold, windy, snowy weather is the talk of the state.

“This is shaping up to be a very unusual event,” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a virtual briefing Tuesday morning. “We are going to see low-(elevation) snow all the way from the Oregon border to the Mexican border — it’s just a question of how low.”

“Just about everybody who lives in California will probably be able to see snow, at least on the nearby hills — and, in most cases, in the very nearby hills …. .”

Fresno’s Snowfall History

Fresno’s snowfall records date to 1907. NWS has recorded 48 days with a trace or more of snow since then. The most recent snow fell in the city on Dec. 11, 2005, when a trace was measured.

The city’s all-time daily snow record of 2.5 inches came on Jan. 12, 1930.

(GV Wire/Paul Marshall

Valley Forecast

In its Wednesday morning forecast discussion, NWS Hanford said that a “series of cold storm systems continue to bring winter weather impacts to the foothill and mountain communities across the district. Off-and-on Valley rain is likely to continue through the next few days. A break from the action on Sunday looks likely, with the potential for another system to reach the district either late next Monday or early next Tuesday.”

Between this evening and next Tuesday, the NWS forecast calls for up to an inch of rain.

In Fresno, the NWS expects light rain this evening with a chance of rain and snow showers overnight. Thursday’s forecast includes a chance of rain and snow showers before 10 a.m. followed by a chance of rain showers.

But the NWS notes that “little or no snow accumulation (is) expected.”

Wind gusts reaching 35 mph and rain totaling between .50 and .75 inches highlight Friday’s forecast.

Fresno Area Power Outages

Several thousand homes and businesses in Fresno, Clovis, and surrounding cities continued to be without power Wednesday morning after high winds damaged PG&E power poles and transformers and took down trees on Tuesday.

Customers can view real-time outage information at PG&E’s online outage center and search by a specific address, city, or county. This site has been updated to include support in 16 languages.

Additionally, customers can sign up for outage notifications by text, email, or phone. PG&E says it will let customers know the cause of an outage, when crews are on their way, the estimated restoration time, and when power has been restored.

 

Storm Closes Highways, Cancels Flights

The same storm that knocked out power in California also closed interstate highways from Arizona to Wyoming and prompted more than 1,200 flight cancellations Wednesday.

Few places were untouched by the wild weather, some at the opposite extreme. Record highs were forecast from the mid-Atlantic states down through Florida, with some places expected to reach up to 40 degrees above normal.

The wintry mix was hitting hardest in the northern tier of the nation. Schools throughout the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin were called off. Offices closed, as did the Minnesota Legislature. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem shut down state executive branch offices in several parts of the state, and employees worked remotely.

In Wyoming, virtually every road was affected.

“A major winter storm and multi-day closures are likely on Interstates and secondary roads throughout Wyoming!” the Wyoming Transportation Department said on Facebook.

A tree is seen partially removed and hanging over a lane as traffic moves past in other lanes after the tree fell across three lanes of traffic on the Bay Bridge on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in San Francisco. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

(Associated Press contributed to this story.)

 

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Bill McEwen,
News Director
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at Send an Email

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