Name: Winter Storm in Nevada, April 20 to 21, 2001
Start: 2001-04-20T07:30
End: 2001-04-21T01:30
Location: Nevada

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS REV wrote it up.

Spotter in Dayton, NV repoted heavy snowfall of 15-18 inches in 18 hours.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Reno, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 20, 1:45 AM PST, 5 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 20, 1:45 AM PST, 5 hours 45 minutes before

WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
245 AM PDT FRI APR 20 2001

PROGS ARE IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT IN DIGGING THE COLD GULF OF ALASKA
SHORT WAVE NOW ALONG THE OREGON COAST TO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA THIS
AFTERNOON. SYSTEM SOMEWHAT LACKING IN MOISTURE BUT WILL TRY OVERCOME
THIS WITH STRONG DYNAMICS AND FAIRLY DECENT OROGRAPHICS. THUS WARNINGS
AND CURRENT QPF IN THE WARNING ARE IN LINE WITH ALL THE NEW MODEL QPF.
CURRENT TIMING OF ONSET OF HEAVY SNOW BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON OK. THIS
IS A FAST MOVING SYSTEM SO HAVE ABOUT A 12 HOUR WINDOW OR INTO EARLY
SATURDAY MORNING EXCEPT IN MONO COUNTY WHERE IT WILL LAST THROUGH MOST
OF THE MORNING TO GET HEAVY SNOW. AIRMASS WILL DESTABILIZE THIS
AFTERNOON BUT FEEL RGL MODEL OVERDOES THIS AND WILL USE A COMPROMISE
OF THE AVN AND ETA AND KEEP LIFTED INDICES JUST ABOVE ZERO. SO WILL
NOT ADD ANY THUNDERSTORMS TO THE CURRENT FORECAST. LOW MOVES RAPIDLY
SOUTHEAST TONIGHT AND SATURDAY WITH SUBSIDENCE AND DRIER AIR TAKING
OVER BY LATE SATURDAY MORNING IN RESPONSE TO AMPLIFYING RIDGE 130
WEST. RIDGE BUILDS INTO THE AREA ON SUNDAY THEN CONTINUES TO AMPLIFY
OVER THE CWA MONDAY AND TUESDAY. THEN STARTS TO MOVE EAST ON WEDNESDAY
AS UPSTREAM TROF MOVES INSIDE 140 WEST. THIS TROF MOVES TO THE COAST
ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON. BOTTOM LINE IS DRY AND WARMER THROUGH WEDNESDAY
WITH TEMPS BACK INTO THE 70S TUESDAY THEN COOLING A LITTLE ON
THURSDAY. WILL ONLY TWEEK CURRENT EXTENDED MAX TEMPS UP A LITTLE
OTHERWISE ITS GREAT. DONALDSON

.REV...WINTER STORM WARNING LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THROUGH SATURDAY
      MORNING ZONES 2/71...71...73.
       LAKE WIND ADVISORY FOR PYRAMIyD LAKE THIS AFTERNOON.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Mineral/Southern Lyon

When: April 20, 7:30 AM PST to April 21, 1:30 AM PST
Where: Mineral/Southern Lyon forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.780, -118.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Nevada in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Nevada, April 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5239136.