Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Officially 9.25" Snowfall Recorded

Snow was the biggest weather topic in January as officially, according to John Teeter, local meteorologist, 9.25 inches fell.

However, he said, when the snow was measured with rulers, it was up to 18 inches deep in places.

"I always get arguments from many in the area our snow amounts are too low," Teeter said.

"Again, we measure on a Formica snow board which is in place over grass, with 45 degrees of unobstructed space above."

He said the board is put in place well in advance of any snowfall and is the same temperature as the air by the time snow does start falling. "I've never seen a flake of snow melt on the board."

Davis Benton, the Cale weatherman, said the south part of the county received 12.5 inches officially.

Still, even with the snow, the rainfall amount for January was down considerably.

According to Teeter's figures, the normal amount of rain received during the first month of the year is 4.51 inches.

But, only 2.50 inches fell, leaving a shortfall of 2.01 inches to get the year started.

Benton said precipitation in the Cale area was 2.6 inches, with 1.7 being snow and 0.90 being rain.

Of course, Teeter said, the average daily temperature was also warmer than normal. The usual temperature for January is 41.5 degrees, but was 45.3 degrees this year, making it 3.8 degrees warmer than the norm.

The high for the month was a balmy 75 degrees, reached on Jan. 3. The low, Teeter said, was 14, occurring on Jan. 31.

In Cale, Benton said, the mercury dipped down to 15 degrees for the low in January.

Teeter said it rained five days during the month, with a stretch of 17 dry days thrown in. In fact, he added, there was no precipitation from Jan. 10 until Jan. 26, and this is unusually dry for a January.

Additionally, he said, Jan. 5 gave the area an unusual record in temperature for high/low separation. The day began with a frigid 21 degrees and climbed to 71 for the day's high, resulting in a 50 degree difference.

Teeter said this is believed to be a record for temperature separation, but can't be sure. The problem, he added, is because some of the older records were written in pencil and have been smudged to the point of being unreadable. "I believe the ballpoint pen is one of the most important inventions of the 20th century," he said.

Snow actually began falling Wednesday, Jan. 26 in the evening. This continued, he said, throughout Thursday and into the middle of the day Friday.

The end result was schools in the county being closed, along with most of the city and county offices.

Interstate 30, he continued, became iced early in the evening, leaving many travelers and truckers stranded. Shelters, though, were opened in the Nevada County Courthouse and local churches.

"I couldn't get an accurate count of the number of stranded people or vehicles," Teeter said, "but I estimate there were at least 250 people in shelters.

"We were lucky in one respect: there was no sleet mixed with the early snow. There was no glaze at the start. Some sleet fell during the early morning hours, but most was large snowflakes."

Looking at February, Teeter said, the normal amount of rainfall received is 4.08 inches, with the average daily temperature being 41.9 degrees.

However, he added, February can play some nasty weather tricks as well. He warns everyone not to let their guard down weather-wise during this month.