Kirkwood Ski Area reported a total of 12-14 inches of snow in 12 hours at 7600 feet.
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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 episode as NWS REV wrote it up.
Kirkwood Ski Area reported a total of 12-14 inches of snow in 12 hours at 7600 feet.
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 Feb 16, 2:45 PM PST, 3 hours 19 minutes earlier.
WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
245 PM PST SAT FEB 16 2002
UPPER LOW NEAR 37/129 TRACKING EAST. COOLING CLOUD TOPS ALONG FRONT
NOW MOVING ONTO THE CALIFORNIA COAST MAY SLOW SYSTEM A BIT BUT IN
GENERAL TIMING STILL LOOKS GOOD WITH STRONGEST DYNAMICS OVER THE
SIERRA 04Z-10Z OR SO. AVN STILL FASTER IN MOVING LOW CENTER TO THE
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST BY 07Z AS A STRONG VORT MAX SWINGS THROUGH
THE CENTRAL VALLEYS INTO THE CENTRAL SIERRA. CAA...OROGRAPHICS AND
UVV LIKELY TO DROP ADVISORY TYPE ACCUMULATIONS ALONG THE LENGTH OF
THE SIERRA TONIGHT. H7/SURFACE LOW SWINGS THROUGH NORTHERN NEVADA
AHEAD OF H5 COLD POOL OF -30C. WILL UP POPS TO CATEGORICAL FOR
NORTHERN AND WESTERN NEVADA VALLEYS AS WELL BUT KEEP ACCUMULATIONS
BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA. SCATTERED POPS ELSEWHERE. SNOW LEVELS NEAR
6000 FEET WILL DROP RAPIDLY TO VALLEY FLOORS BEHIND FRONT LATER
TONIGHT.
SECOND VORT MAX DROPS BEHIND TROF SUNDAY WHICH MOVES INTO NE NEVADA
LATE IN THE DAY. CYCLONIC FLOW AND CONTINUED COLD AIR SUPPORT SHOULD
KEEP AT LEAST SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS GOING THROUGH MUCH OF THE DAY
TOMORROW. WEAK RIDGING BUILDS IN SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY THOUGH
LINGERING SNOW SHOWERS STILL POSSIBLE SUNDAY NIGHT. AFTER A DRY
PRESIDENTS DAY OVERRUNNING MOISTURE SPREADS OVER THE AREA MONDAY
NIGHT AND TUESDAY. A CHANCE OF MOUNTAIN SNOW / VALLEY RAIN SHOWERS
RETURNS TO NORTHERN AREAS TUESDAY AS LOW LEVEL RH MOVES IN. SG
IN THE EXTENDED...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY
12Z AVN LIKE LAST NIGHTS MRF CONTINUES TO SHOW SOME OVERRUNNING
PRECIPITATION HERE WEDNESDAY...ESPECIALLY IN THE NORTH. THIS DOES
NOT LOOK UNREASONABLE AND FORECASTS HAVE BEEN ADJUSTED TO FIT THIS.
RIDGE CONTINUES TO AMPLIFY OVER THE WEST AND LIFTS PRECIPITATION
WELL TO THE NORTH ON THURSDAY. CURRENT FORECASTS HAVE SOME SHOWERS
IN NE CA AND THE TAHOE AREA ON FRIDAY FROM A TROUGH THE MRF BRINGS
IN FROM THE WEST. THE TIMING OF THIS IS NOT CONSISTENT BETWEEN
MODELS BUT THE 12Z AVN LOOKS QUITE SIMILAR TO THE MRF AT 120 HOURS
SO SEE NO REASON TO CHANGE OUR FORECASTS AT THIS TIME. SATURDAY
LOOKS DRY AS HEIGHTS BUILD BEHIND THE FRIDAY TROUGH. COREY
.REV...CAZ071 SNOW ADVISORY ABOVE 5000 FEET TONIGHT.
CAZ072-NVZ002 SNOW ADVISORY TONIGHT.
CAZ073 SNOW ADVISORY ABOVE 7000 FEET TONIGHT.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
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, February 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: 5280590.