Bernie Rayno's most memorable moment from 2023
Take a look back at some of the most memorable weather moments from the year with AccuWeather's team of meteorologists.
Transcript
00:00 The beginning of the winter of 2022-2023,
00:04 California was desperate for rain.
00:06 We've gone through many years of either near normal rainfall
00:10 or well below normal rainfall.
00:12 And the entire state was either in severe or exceptional drought.
00:16 November came and we start getting some rain.
00:21 Not used to seeing this much rain happening here.
00:24 But then came the months of December and January.
00:30 Where it was round after round after round of not only rain,
00:34 but heavy snow.
00:38 March is then what pushed it over the edge
00:42 with not only heavy rain, but heavy mountain snow.
00:45 And by the time we ended the winter season,
00:49 houses like this, like this one right here, is totally buried.
00:52 Those folks don't come around in the winter.
00:56 We saw almost three times the amount of heavy snow
01:00 than normal snow that you would see in the Sierra.
01:03 And remember, it's the snow that melts that fills the reservoirs.
01:08 And by the time we got into the springtime,
01:10 not only were all the reservoirs filled in California,
01:13 including the two biggest ones, Shasta and Oroville,
01:16 but officials had to release the water.
01:19 There was too much.
01:21 They had so much snow in the Sierra.
01:24 Mammoth Mountain remained open through July and into August.
01:30 They didn't put a dent in the drought in California.
01:33 It completely obliterated it.
01:35 It did it in one year.
01:37 And that's something I'm not sure I'll ever see again.
01:42 [Music]
01:54 (upbeat music)