#1Truckee
Nevada County · 17,278 people34 days a year with an inch or more·Donner Mem Sp station, 4 km
Truckee, #1 on this list · Photo: Finetooth · CC BY-SA 3.0California rankings · Climate
Snowiest towns in California
Truckee gets the most snow of California’s 38 towns of 2,500+ with a snow record: about 183 inches in a normal winter at its NOAA station. Phelan gets the least, about 1 inches; 6 of the 38 average 60 inches or more.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020, at each town’s nearest station with a snow record (named in each row). A described list: no letters. How grades work
#1183in
Kings Beach
unincorporated, Placer County · 2,736 people33 days a year with an inch or more·Tahoe City station, 14 km
#T2South Lake Tahoe
El Dorado County · 21,115 people33 days a year with an inch or more·Tahoe City station, 30 km
All 38 towns
Snow in a normal winter, most first. Towns that share a station share its figure and rank (T = tied; 28 towns here share a station).
38 towns ranked. Not here? See why a town may be missing.
#TownSnow a yearDays with 1″+NOAA station
A station’s normal can differ from the town’s own when the station sits higher or lower; each town’s Climate page names its station and checks it.
Quick answers
Questions people ask
Which California town gets the most snow?
Truckee (Nevada County), about 183 inches in a normal winter at the Donner Mem Sp station.
What part of California gets the least amount of snow?
Among towns of 2,500+, the least snow falls in Phelan (San Bernardino County, about 1 in), Edwards AFB (Kern County, about 1 in), Mojave (Kern County, about 1 in), on NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals at each town’s station. See the towns with the least snow.
Why isn’t my town on this list?
The list covers towns of 2,500+ residents (847 in California) whose nearest station has a snow normal of an inch or more; 809 have no station with a snow record. Smaller towns show their snow on their own Climate page.
Go deeper
All California rankings →More California lists
Every list ranks the same 2,500+ towns, so a town’s rank means the same thing on each.
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