1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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.
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 Dec 31, 3:00 AM PST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.
WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
300 AM PST TUE DEC 31 2002
A COLD UPPER TROUGH MOVING INLAND THIS MORNING HAS GOOD JET SUPPORT
AND STRONG VERTICAL MOTION FROM NRN CA ACROSS THE SIERRA THROUGH 12
TO 15Z THEN DECREASING RAPIDLY BY 18Z. CONVECTION WITH THE FRONT
WILL PRODUCE LOCALLY INTENSE SNOW OVER THE SIERRA IN SNOW BANDS.
THE UPPER TROUGH AXIS MOVES EAST OF THE SIERRA ABOUT 18Z WITH SNOW
SHOWERS TAPERING OFF THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. LIGHTER RAIN AND SNOW
AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS WRN NV VALLEYS WITH THE FRONT THIS
MORNING. HIGH WINDS ARE STILL POSSIBLE WITH AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT
ALTHOUGH PRECIPITATION WILL LIKELY SUPPRESS THE POTENTIAL FOR HIGH
WINDS LOCALLY. PARTIAL CLEARING AND COLDER TONIGHT AS WEAK HIGH
PRESSURE BUILDS NEAR THE COAST. WARM OVER RUNNING THROUGH THE RIDGE
WEDNESDAY BRINGS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN OR SNOW TO NE CA AND
NW NV AS THE AIRMASS SLOWLY WARMS. THE OVER RUNNING WEAKENS AND
SHIFTS EAST WEDNESDAY NIGHT. WARMING CONTINUES THURSDAY WITH
INCREASING SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT THAT PRECEDES AN APPROACHING PACIFIC
TROUGH. INCREASING CLOUDS THURSDAY SLOWS THE WARMING A LITTLE. A
SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION DEVELOPS OVER NE CA LATE IN THE DAY.
OSTERMAN.
IN THE EXTENDED...FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY...
SHORTWAVE MOVING ACROSS THE NORTHWEST US ON FRIDAY IS ON COURSE TO
ONLY BRUSH BY THE NORTHERN ZONES AS 570 DM HEIGHT CONTOUR LIFTS
NORTHWARD TO FAR NORTHERN CA-NV. OVERALL TREND FOR THIS SYSTEM HAS
BEEN TOWARD A MORE NORTHERLY TRACK AND LESS PRECIP IN NE CA-W NV.
CURRENT DEPICTION OF CHANCE POPS NORTH DECREASING TO DRY IN THE
SOUTH LOOKS GOOD.
HEIGHTS CONTINUE TO RISE ON SATURDAY BUT THERE IS SOME DISAGREEMENT
TO MOISTURE AS THE 00Z GFS AND CANADIAN PRODUCE LIGHT TO MODERATE
QPF OVER THE NORTHERN 2/3 OF THE REGION WHILE THE OTHER MODELS
SUGGEST A MORE AMPLIFIED RIDGE PATTERN UNFAVORABLE FOR PRODUCING
PRECIP. THE GFS ENSEMBLES FROM THE 12Z RUN SHOWED A MAJORITY OF ITS
MEMBERS KEEPING THE PRECIP NORTH OF THE OREGON BORDER. FOR THIS
PACKAGE...CONSIDERING THE GREATER SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SHORT TERM
WEATHER...NO MAJOR CHANGES ARE PLANNED FOR SATURDAY WITH CLOUD COVER
HIGHER IN THE NORTH.
BY SUNDAY AND MONDAY THE MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH CONTINUED
AMPLIFICATION OF THE WESTERN US RIDGE AND ESTABLISHING SFC HIGH NEAR
SALT LAKE CITY. THIS PATTERN CHANGE WILL ALLOW FOR A DRYING OUT AND
QUIETER PERIOD FOR MOST OF THE WESTERN US WHILE SHARP INVERSIONS
WILL LIMIT TEMPERATURE RISES DESPITE SURGING THICKNESS VALUES. THE
MAIN QUESTION WILL BE THE LONGEVITY OF THIS PATTERN...A YEAR AGO A
SIMILAR PATTERN RUINED A PROMISING START FOR A WET WINTER WHEN IT
PERSISTED THROUGH JANUARY AND FEBRUARY. MJD
.REV....WINTER STORM WARNING CAZ071 THROUGH NOON TODAY.
.WINTER STORM WARNING CAZ072-NVZ002 TONIGHT THROUGH NOON
TODAY.
.WINTER STORM WARNING CAZ073 ABOVE 6500 FEET TONIGHT THROUGH
NOON TODAY.
.HIGH WIND WARNING CAZ070>073...NVZ002>NVZ003..NVZ005 THROUGH
9 AM THIS MORNING.
.WIND ADVISORY NVZ001-NVZ004 THROUGH 9 AM THIS MORNING.
.SNOW ADVISORY NVZ003 ABOVE 4500 FEET THROUGH 10 AM THIS
MORNING.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Recorded by automated sensor near Stateline, NV.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 2002
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: 5323944.