March 1, 2023 - Snow in San Diego County

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On February 23, 2023, as an unusual winter storm threatened Southern
California, a local weather report commented, “When we describe snow on
San Diego County's mountains, it's typically with words like dusting
and slushy. This time, we can safely use the word dumping.” And they
were not wrong—a massive dump of snow landed on the high elevations
across Southern California over the next few days. The extreme winter
weather also prompted the National Weather Service (NWS) San Diego to
issue a blizzard warning for the San Bernadino Mountains for the first
time in history.

The storm brought heavy rain to the coast and valleys along with snow
in the high elevations. According to the NWS San Diego, between
February 23 and 26, fresh snow fall at Mountain High Ski Resort
measured 93 inches (236 cm). That’s a whopping 7.75 feet (2.4 meters)
in just three days. Snow Valley recorded 78-90 inches (198-228 cm),
with other elevations over 5,000 feet reporting 63-77 inches (160-196
cm). Snow didn’t spare the lower mountain elevations, with the town of
Julian, located at 4,400 feet, accumulating 10 inches (25 cm).

While the heavy snow was as beautiful as it was unusual, it caused
difficulties, including impassible roads and some power outages.
Several school districts cancelled classes or delayed opening.

On February 27, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite took advantage of a sunny spot
between storms and acquired a true-color image showing bounteous fresh
snow atop the mountains in far Southern California. The image shows
snow-capped mountains in both Mexico (south) and in California (north),
with a break in the white near the border between the two countries.
The city of San Diego, California, shows up as gray pixels on the coast
of the Pacific Ocean and blends in with the city of Tijuana, Mexico
(south).

In the northwest, clouds cover the scene, likely the leading edge of
the next winter storm, which is due to cross the region from February
28-March 1. The NWS San Diego advised to expect lowland rain, strong
west winds, and heavy snow, once again measured in feet, not just in
inches. Morning commuters can expect slick, slow travel across the
region.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 2/27/2023
Resolutions: 1km (111.3 KB), 500m (280.6 KB), 250m (202 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-03-01

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