Name: High Wind in Nevada, April 14, 2002
Start: 2002-04-14T15:00
End: 2002-04-14T16:00
Location: Nevada

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $2,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 LKN wrote it up.

An approaching cold front produced wind gusts to 61 mph at the Ely RAWS in White Pine County and up to 58 mph at the Spring Gulch RAWS in extreme eastern Elko County. These strong winds did some damage to the roof and rain gutters of a weather spotter in Ruth and broke some tree limbs.

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 Elko, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 14, 1:40 PM PST, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 14, 1:40 PM PST, 1 hour 20 minutes before

NORTHERN GREAT BASIN FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV
240 PM PDT SUN APR 14 2002

STRONG COLD FRONT SLOWING DOWN AS IT MOVES INTO NRN NV ATTM. WV
IMAGERY SHOWS STRONG SHORT WAVE NR 43N 135 W THAT IS MOVING QUICKLY
SE. FRONT WILL HANG FOR A LITTLE WHILE UNTIL THIS WAVE MOVES IN TO
PUSH THE FRONT THROUGH. IN THE MEANTIME...STRONG WINDS ALOFT HAVE
MIXED DOWN TO THE SFC AS EXPECTED. SUSTAINED WINDS GNLY 25-30 MPH
BUT GUSTS HAVE BEEN EXCEEDING 50 MPH IN A FEW PLACES. WITH FRONT
TAKING ITS TIME TO MOVE THROUGH...WILL EXTEND WIND ADVY THROUGH 9
PM AND HOIST ONE FOR ZONE 33...AS KENV HAS ALREADY PICKED UP OUT OF
THE SOUTHWEST. THERE HOWEVER...WILL EXTEND IT THROUGH NOON MONDAY
AS NW SFC GRADIENT BEHIND FRONT IS QUITE IMPRESSIVE AND KENV
NORMALLY RESPONDS WELL TO THIS.

NEXT CONCERN IS PRECIP/CONVECTION. ISOLD TS HAVE BEGUN TO FORM IN
ELKO CTY NORTH OF I-80. EXPECT SOME MORE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE
EVENING HOURS WITH CONVERGENCE ALONG STRONG FRONT. ALSO...BEST
UPPER SUPPORT COMES IN AT 06Z WITH NE NV UNDER RRQ OF 100KT JET
STREAK. WITH STRONG WINDS ALOFT...AN ISOLATED SEVERE GUST IS
POSSIBLE OUT OF THE STRONGEST STORMS. AS FAR AS POPS...WILL GO HIGH
SCT IN THE NORTHEAST...TAPERING TO 20S SOUTH AND WEST AWAY FROM
BEST FORCING/MOISTURE.

ON MONDAY...FRONT PUSHES INTO SRN NV...WITH SOME DECENT MOISTURE
CONVERGENCE AND UPPER JET SUPPORT WILL UP TO SCT IN WP CTY AND
CONTINUE FOR THE REST OF THE EAST. FURTHER WEST...WILL JUST GO
ISOLD POPS FOR -SHSN. ALL SNOW AS WELL WITH H7 TEMPS DOWN AS LOW AS
-10. SHORT WAVE RIDGE THEN MOVES IN FOR MON NIGHT/TUES FOR A COLD
NIGHT FOLLOWED BY A LITTLE WARMING DURING THE DAY. HOWEVER...NEXT
POTENT SHORT WAVE DROPS INTO THE MEAN WRN TROF LATE TUES NIGHT INTO
WED FOR ANOTHER CHANCE AT SNOW SHOWERS ALL AREAS.

EXTENDED...MODELS COMING INTO BETTER AGREEMENT WRT DEVELOPING
CUTOFF LOW OVER GREAT BASIN. EURO MOST AGGRESSIVE...BUT GEM/NOGAPS
NOT FAR BEHIND. MRF OUTLIER BEING TOO PROGRESSIVE AS IT HAS BEEN FOR
MOST OF LAST WEEK. THEREFORE WILL HAVE CHC ALL ZONES THROUGH
SATURDAY BEFORE DRYING SUNDAY. JUST DONT BELIEVE THE LOW WILL BE
THAT QUICK TO MOVE OUT WITH THE LACK OF A KICKER. HOWEVER...WITH
MODIFICATION...SNOW LEVELS AT THE VALLEY FLOORS THURS WILL RISE TO
PERHAPS 6500-7000 FEET FRI/SAT. WILL ALSO TEMPER FCST WARMING TREND
ACCORDINGLY. WALLMANN

.EKO...WIND ADVISORY NVZ030>032-036 THROUGH 9 PM.
       WIND ADVISORY NVZ033 THROUGH NOON MONDAY.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, White Pine

When: April 14, 3:00 PM PST to 3:30 PM PST
Where: White Pine forecast zone
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.442, -114.902 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, X E Elko

When: April 14, 3:30 PM PST to 4:00 PM PST
Where: X E Elko forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 41.146, -115.358 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Nevada in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Nevada, April 2002

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: 5325332, 5325333.