When Highway 99 in Sacramento County flooded days after the new year began, it was disastrous. Several people had to be rescued after getting caught in the floodwater.

Not only was a crucial part of the highway connecting Northern California with the Central Valley blocked off, but three people had also died from the floods.

This led to criticism about whether state road officials should have shut down the highway sooner.

See more here.

To get a full scope of how bad flooding was this past winter required an aerial perspective.

KCRA 3 Chief Meteorologist Mark Finan joined LiveCopter 3 in January to inspect the widespread flooding damage in Sacramento County.

See more here.

As the first major rainstorm of the year passed through Northern California, heavy gusts of winds followed, knocking over many trees that had loosened soil from all the rain.

That led to hundreds and thousands of utility customers in the area without power, and roadways were blocked by trees and debris.

See some of the aftermath here.

In the early part of a monthslong series of storms for Northern California, there was one day when a tornado caused extensive damage in Calaveras County.

A tornado with 90 mph winds touched down, the National Weather Service confirmed.

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LiveCopter 3 flew over Yosemite National Park on Friday, April 28, with Chief Meteorologist Mark Finan on board.

Southern California saw a rare hurricane that was downgraded to a tropical storm that brought with it heavy rains and wind.

Once the storm further weakened upon reaching land, its remnants also managed to impact parts of Northern California. Residents were told that if they heard thunder to get inside.

In El Dorado County, those who lived near the Caldor Fire and Mosquito Fire burn scars were told be cautious in case of debris flow.

See more impacts here.

California reservoirs were looking abysmal after years of disappointing rainfall.

Once that changed after this past winter, the before and after views were hard to miss.

At Lake Oroville, the tallest dam in the country, the reservoir was at 99% capacity in June. According to the Department of Water Resources, Lake Oroville has not been this full at this point in the year since 2012.

Lake Shasta, the state's largest reservoir, was also almost fully replenished.

The year was so good for California that the state in April announced it would be able to provide 100% of the water requested by cities and farms for the first time in years.

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Speaking of Oroville, 2023 was the second release of water at the dam's rebuilt spillway since a flooding crisis in 2017 collapsed the main spillway, eroded an emergency spillway and forced more than 180,000 people to evacuate.

The first release since the rebuilt spillway was in April 2019 to release about 25,000 cubic feet per second.

The spillway has a total capacity of 270,000 cubic feet per second, he said.

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There's no denying the snowpack this year was much-needed and nearly historic.

Heaps and mounds of snow led many Tahoe-area ski resorts to extend their season, much to the delight of skiers and snowboarders.

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Normally, much of the snow has already long melted by the time Memorial Day rolls around. That was not the case this year, and several campsites and state parks were still closed — in the summertime.

State parks across several counties in Northern California announced partial closures, which meant the entrances were open, but select trails or campsites were closed.

See more here.