CALTRANS reported 15 inches of snow in 12 hours at 6100 feet in Kingvale.
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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.
CALTRANS reported 15 inches of snow in 12 hours at 6100 feet in Kingvale.
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 Mar 10, 3:00 AM PST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
300 AM PST SUN MAR 10 2002
WATER VAPOR LOOP SHOWS SHEARING SHORT WAVE MOVING INTO CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA AS COLD FRONT CONTINUES TO HANG WEST OF THE SIERRA.
AREA OF ECHOES EXTENDS FROM LASSEN/PLUMAS COUNTIES SOUTH INTO MONO
COUNTY WITH HEAVIEST ACTIVITY OVER WEST SLOPES OF THE SIERRA.
WESTERN NEVADA VALLEYS STILL DRY AND GETTING DOWNSLOPE WINDS GUSTING
OVER 50 MPH. FRONT LOSES ALL UPPER SUPPORT BY 12Z AS MAIN TROF
MOVES INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND WARM ADVECTION BEGINS TO MOVE
INTO CALIFORNIA. OROGRAPHICS BECOME LESS FAVORABLE AS FLOW TURNS TO
THE WEST. ADVISORY TYPE QPFS STILL APPEAR ON TRACK FOR THE SIERRA
NORTH OF LAKE TAHOE...WITH THE MOUNTAINS WEST OF THE LAKE NORTH INTO
LASSEN/PLUMAS COUNTIES MOST LIKELY TO RECEIVE HEAVIEST QPF. WILL
KEEP ADVISORY GOING THESE AREAS UNTIL NOON THEN EMPHASIZE PARTIAL
CLEARING WITH LINGERING SNOW SHOWERS AS WARMER AIR WORKS IN ALOFT.
IN THE VALLEYS 06Z ETA GENERATED NO QPF FOR THE RENO AREA AND
WEAKENING SYSTEM NOT EXPECTED TO BRING MORE THAN A FEW SCATTERED
SNOW SHOWERS WHEN IT FINALLY MOVES THROUGH. STRONG WINDS
APPROACHING ADVISORY LEVELS WILL CONTINUE IN VALLEYS TO THE LEE OF
THE SIERRA UNTIL THE SHORT WAVE MOVES THROUGH LATER THIS MORNING.
IMPROVING CONDITIONS WITH DECREASING WINDS AND COOLER LATER TODAY.
FLAT RIDGE DEVELOPS TONIGHT INTO MONDAY FOR PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND
A WARMING TREND. UPPER LOW DROPS SOUTH FROM GULF OF ALASKA LATE
MONDAY INTO TUESDAY. WINDS WILL INCREASE AGAIN. ETA DEVELOPS
PRECIPITATION FOR FAR NORTHERN AREAS MONDAY NIGHT...AND SPREADS THIS
OVER MOST OF WESTERN NEVADA AND THE EASTERN SIERRA BY TUESDAY.
IN THE EXTENDED...BASICALLY THE MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE SUGGESTING A
COOL AND SHOWERY PERIOD THROUGH THE DAY 7. ALL THE MODELS SEEM TO
AGREE. THE EURO IS BIT WEAKER. THEY HAVE BACKED OFF ON A CLOSED
UPPER LOW ON FRIDAY BUT HAVE DELAYED IT TILL AFTER THE 7TH DAY. A
L/W TROF SETS UP OVER THE WEST AND INTO THE GREAT BASIN WITH A
NORTHERLY FLOW AND COLD UPPER LOW. SEVERAL WX SYSTEMS ROTATE THRU
THE AREA DURING THE PERIOD SO TIMING IS A BIT DIFFICULT. WILL BROAD
BRUSH THE EXTENDED WITH COOL AND SHOWERY WORDING.
.REV...SNOW ADVISORY UNTIL NOON CAZ071 ABOVE 5000
FEET
SNOW ADVISORY UNTIL NOON CAZ072-NVZ002 ABOVE
7000 FEETThe 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, March 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: 5286142.