A strong, fast moving cold front brought heavy snow to the eastern Sierra from the evening of December 28 to the morning of December 29. Several locations in the Lake Tahoe reported snowfall rates over 3 inches per hour for several hours during the evening of December 28.
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 episode as NWS REV wrote it up.
A strong, fast moving cold front brought heavy snow to the eastern Sierra from the evening of December 28 to the morning of December 29. Several locations in the Lake Tahoe reported snowfall rates over 3 inches per hour for several hours during the evening of December 28. By the morning of December 29, over 2 feet of new snow had fallen in only about 12 hours above 8000 feet, with over a foot at many locations above 7000 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 Dec 28, 3:00 PM PST, 2 hours earlier.
WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
300 PM PST SAT DEC 28 2002
WINDS CONTINUE TO GUSTS OVER 100 MPH ALONG SIERRA CREST IN TAHOE
AREA AS REPORTED ON REMOTE MTN TOPS WIND SENSORS. RADAR LOOP
SHOWING HEAVIER FRONTAL PCPN OVER CENTRAL CA AS OF 2 PM SHOULD REACH
SIERRA BY 4 PM AND EXTREME WRN NV VALLEYS BY 6 PM. WILL CONTINUE
HIGH WIND WARNING IN NRN CWA UNTIL 6 PM AND OVER MONO COUNTY UNTIL
9 PM COINCIDING WITH ONSET OF FRONTAL PCPN. WIND ADVISORIES ALSO FOR
WRN NV ZONES 1 AND 4 UNTIL 9 PM. HEAVY SNOW EXPECTED WITH EVENING
WITH FRONTAL BAND...COULD SEE 2-3 INCH PER HOUR RATES BETWEEN 6-10
PM IN TAHOE AREA. SNOW DECREASE TO SNOW SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT
AND DIMINISHING FURTHER SUNDAY WITH MAINLY OROGRAPHIC SNOW SHOWERS
CONTINUING ALONG SIERRA AND NRN NV MTNS. BREAK SUNDAY NIGHT AND
EARLY MONDAY BEFORE NEXT SYSTEM SPREADS RAIN AND SNOW OVER AREA
MONDAY AFTN IN NRN SIERRA AND OVER ENTIRE AREA BY TUESDAY MORNING.
SNOW LEVELS STARTING OUT AROUND 6500 FEET MONDAY AFTERNOON THEN
LOWERING TO NEAR 5000 BY TUESDAY MORNING AND VALLEY FLOORS OF
WRN NV BY TUESDAY AFTN. WILL HOLD OFF ON ANY NEW WATCHES UNTIL
CURRENT WARNINGS EXPIRE. CYLKE
IN THE EXTENDED...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...
MODELS SIMILAR THRU THURSDAY WITH WEAK DIRTY RIDGE OVER REGION. GFS
A LITTLE MORE AMPLIFIED THAN PREVIOUS RUN SO EVEN THOUGH THERE
APPEARS TO BE GOOD 700 MB OVERRUNNING MOISTURE MOVING INTO NORTHERN
PORTIONS OF CWA THERE IS LITTLE IF ANY VERTICAL MOTION. SO HAVE
BACKED DOWN ON POPS FOR WEDNESDAY. NEXT SHORTWAVE FORECAST TO MOVE
ACROSS NORTH QUICKLY ON ABOUT FRIDAY BUT MODELS ALL DIFFERENT SO
LITTLE CONFIDENCE IN TIMING. WILL LEAVE CURRENT FORECAST AS IS.
.REV...HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 6 PM CAZ070>073
..NVZ002-003-005.
.WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM NVZ001-004.
.WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT CAZ071 ABV 6000 FEET
.SNOW ADVISORY BELOW 6000 FEET CAZ071
.WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT CAZ073 AND CAZ072-NVZ002.CAZ070>073-NVZ001>005-281500- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV 510 AM PST SAT DEC 28 2002 ...WINTER STORM WARNING THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT FOR THE LAKE TAHOE AREA NORTHWARD TO LASSEN COUNTY... ...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR NORTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND EXTREME WESTERN NEVADA... ...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT FOR MONO COUNTY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NEVADA...THE EASTERN SIERRA AND NORTHEAST CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...SATURDAY WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION ALONG WITH LOWERING SNOW LEVELS WILL MOVE INTO THE NORTHERN SIERRA THIS AFTERNOON AND REACH THE SIERRA SOUTH OF LAKE TAHOE THIS EVENING. ADDITIONALLY VERY STRONG WINDS WILL AFFECT EXTREME WESTERN NEVADA AND NORTHEAST CALIFORNIA TODAY WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH IN THE VALLEYS AND RIDGE TOP GUSTS OVER 80 MPH. SEE THE LATEST WINTER STORM WARNING...WSWREV (WWUS45) AND HIGH WIND WARNING...NPWREV (WWUS75) FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY ADDITIONAL SIGNIFICANT WINTER WEATHER IS POSSIBLE MONDAY AFTERNOON AND TUESDAY AS THE NEXT PACIFIC STORM MOVES INTO EASTERN CALIFORNIA AND WESTERN NEVADA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON FOR STRONG WINDS IN THE VALLEYS AND HEAVY SNOWFALL IN THE UPPER ELEVATIONS. BRONG
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 Nevada in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, 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: 5323942.