An approaching cold front brought strong and gusty winds to western Nevada. Numerous wind gusts in the 58 to 75 mph range were reported.
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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.
An approaching cold front brought strong and gusty winds to western Nevada. Numerous wind gusts in the 58 to 75 mph range were reported. An 86 mph gust was reported by a spotter near Gardnerville, NV. Scattered power outages occurred due to the winds, but little damage was reported.
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, 3:15 AM PST, 6 hours 7 minutes earlier.
WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
315 AM PST SAT DEC 28 2002
NORTH-SOUTH TROUGH AXIS APPROACHING 130W WITH JET STREAK ROUNDING
THE BASE OF THE TROUGH. THIS WILL PUSH A COLD FRONT INTO THE CA
COAST BY 12Z AND INTO LASSEN COUNTY BY LATE THIS MORNING. FRONT
WILL HANG ON THE SIERRA FOR A BIT BEFORE REACHING THE RENO AREA
BETWEEN 00Z-02Z. SNOW LEVELS ARE FALLING AS TEMPS IN THE HIGHER
ELEVATIONS HAVE DROPPED INTO THE MID AND UPPER 20S. TEMP/DEWPT FROM
10Z KTVL OB...CALCULATES OUT TO A WET BULB OF 1C...SUPPORTING A SNOW
LEVEL BETWEEN 6000-6500 FEET. SNOW WILL BEGIN FALLING EARLIER THAN
PREVIOUSLY FORECAST...BUT WONT AFFECT ANY WARNING DECISIONS...ONLY
ADD TO THE STORM TOTAL. HEAVIEST PRECIP BURST WILL OCCUR BETWEEN
20Z AND 02Z FOR LAKE TAHOE NORTHWARD WITH STRONG OROGRAPHICS AS THE
FRONT AND TROUGH APPROACH THE CREST AND PASS OVERHEAD. WARNINGS
CURRENTLY IN AFFECT FOR LAKE TAHOE BASIN NORTH TO LASSEN COUNTY.
WILL UPGRADE WATCH FOR MONO COUNTY TO A WARNING...BUT PRECIP THERE
WILL NOT START FALLING UNTIL THE AFTERNOON.
HIGH WIND WARNINGS IN EFFECT FOR ZONE 71 AND 5/70 LOOK GOOD AS
WELL. WILL UPGRADE HIGH WIND WATCH TO A WARNING FOR ZONES 2/72 AND
3 FOR GUSTS NEAR 60 MPH...AS WINDS ALOFT COUPLE WITH INCREASING
SURFACE GRADIENTS WITH THE APPROACHING FRONT. RIDGE TOP GUSTS
CURRENTLY BETWEEN 70 AND 90 MPH...ALREADY ABOVE HIGH WIND WARNING
CRITERIA.
SNOW LEVEL WILL REACH ALL VALLEY FLOORS TONIGHT AS THE COLD POOL
BEHIND THE TROUGH MOVES INTO THE STATE. WILL KEEP A CHANCE IN ON
SUNDAY FOR INSTABILITY SHOWERS AND DRY MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA OUT
SUNDAY NIGHT. NEXT SYSTEM COMES INTO THE NORTHERN SIERRA ON MONDAY
AFTERNOON...WILL CUT POPS FOR THE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AREAS ON
MONDAY. BRONG
IN THE EXTENDED...TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...LONG RANGE MODELS ARE IN
REASONABLE AGREEMENT INDICATING STRONG LOW AMPLITUDE FLOW ACROSS THE
PACIFIC 30-50N. SHORT WAVES TROUGHS AND RIDGES ARE SIMILAR ALTHOUGH
IN THIS FAST FLOW THERE IS LIKELY TO BE SOME TIMING ISSUES LATER IN
THE 4-7 DAY PERIOD. ONE SHORT WAVE MOVES ACROSS THE
AREA...CONTINUING EAST TUESDAY. A SHORT WAVE RIDGE FOLLOWS
WEDNESDAY BUT REMAINING RELATIVELY MOIST ESPECIALLY FROM ABOUT
GREATER TAHOE NORTH. ANOTHER TROUGH APPROACHES THURSDAY AND IN THE
FAST FLOW COULD BE A LITTLE SLOW. THE SYSTEM CONTINUES EAST ACROSS
WRN NV FRIDAY. GIVEN THE MOIST FLOW OVER THE NRN CWA AND POSSIBLE
TIMING PROBLEMS...A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION IS RETAINED OVER THE NRN
SIERRA THROUGH THE PERIOD BETWEEN SYSTEMS WHILE WEST CENTRAL NV
VALLEYS ARE TRIMMED BACK TO A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS WEDNESDAY AND
DRY THURSDAY AS THE FLOW ALOFT BACKS TO SOUTHWESTERLY ALOFT. SNOW
LEVELS RISE OFF THE VALLEYS FLOORS WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY BEFORE
LOWERING AGAIN WITH THE FRIDAY SYSTEM...WHICH COULD ALSO BE QUITE
WINDY. OSTERMAN
.REV...HIGH WIND WARNING SATURDAY CAZ070-072..NVZ002-003-005.
WINTER STORM WARNING SATURDAY-SATURDAY NIGHT
CAZ071-072-NVZ002.
WINTER STORM WARNING SATURDAY AFTERNOON-SATURDAY NIGHT CAZ073.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.
2 high wind. 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: 5323938, 5323939.