High Wind in Nevada, December 28, 2002

Name: High Wind in Nevada, December 28, 2002
Start: 2002-12-28T16:00
End: 2002-12-28T23:00
Location: Nevada

December 28, 2002 · NWS LKN · 4 events in 2 counties and zones

Strong winds ahead of an approaching cold front gusted to 80 mph in Baker and blew a trailer off of the cinder blocks it was sitting on. A weather spotter in Ruth reported winds gusting to 60 mph.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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Floods
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Winter weather
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Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $500
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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.

Strong winds ahead of an approaching cold front gusted to 80 mph in Baker and blew a trailer off of the cinder blocks it was sitting on. A weather spotter in Ruth reported winds gusting to 60 mph. The Mather RAWS site in the Great Basin National Park at an elevation of 9200 feet reported wind gusts to 89 mph and the Flat Springs RAWS site in southern Eureka county at an elevation of 7700 feet reported a wind gust of 83 mph.

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 Dec 28, 2:32 PM PST, 1 hour 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 28, 2:32 PM PST, 1 hour 28 minutes before

NORTHERN GREAT BASIN FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV
232 PM PST SAT DEC 28 2002

.SHORT TERM...RIDGE AXIS PUSHES INTO CENTRAL US TONIGHT ALLOWING TROF
ALONG WEST COAST TO PUSH INTO WESTERN CWA. WINDS SHOULD BE LOCALLY
WINDY THIS EVENING...ESPECIALLY EASTERN CWA AS 90 KNOT JET AXIS
PASSES THOUGH. FIRST VORT MAX MOVES ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTHERN
NEVADA THIS EVENING FOLLOWED BY STRONGER SHORTWAVE AFTER MIDNIGHT.
WITH 700/300MB COUPLET WILL KEEP POPS LIKELY IN ALL ZONES...HOWEVER
EXPECT SNOW AMOUNTS AROUND 1 TO 2 INCHES AS THESE SYSTEMS MOVING
FAIRLY RAPIDLY EASTWARD. CYCLONIC FLOW AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS FOR
CONVECTIVE SNOW SHOWERS SUNDAY INTO EARLY SUNDAY EVENING FOLLOWED BY
A DIRTY RIDGE MONDAY. WAA DEVELOPS OVER CWA MONDAY AFTERNOON AND WITH
TIMING AN ISSUE IN FAST MOVING H5 FLOW...WILL KEEP MENTION OF CHANCE
POPS IN FORECAST. LATEST AVN FORECASTING STRONG DYNAMICS WITH NEXT
UPSTREAM SYSTEM DUE IN TUESDAY.

.LONG TERM...DIRTY RIDGE REBUILDS ACROSS CWA ON WEDNESDAY WITH PCPN
MAINLY CONFINED TO HUMBOLDT AND EXTREME NORTHERN ELKO COUNTIES. WAA
AGAIN INTRUDES INTO NEVADA THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF
CHANCE POPS THEN FOLLOWED BY A DIRTY RIDGE ON SATURDAY.  HARMER

.EKO...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 28, 5:00 AM PST, 11 hours before

NVZ030>037-291300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV
500 AM PST SAT DEC 28 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL
NEVADA

.DAY ONE...

A COLD FRONT WILL CROSS THE REGION SATURDAY NIGHT BRINGING SNOW TO
THE REGION IN THE LATE EVENING IN HUMBOLDT AND LANDER COUNTIES AND
AFTER MIDNIGHT ACROSS THE REST OF NORTHEASTERN NEVADA. AMOUNTS WILL
BE GENERALLY LIGHT...BETWEEN 1 AND 2 INCHES...SINCE THE FRONT WILL
MOVE ACROSS THE REGION RAPIDLY. BUT SNOW MAY FALL HEAVILY FOR A SHORT
PERIOD OF SEVERAL HOURS OVERNIGHT. VISIBILITIES MAY BE REDUCED BELOW
ONE-QUARTER MILE IN HEAVIER SNOW AND TRAVEL MAY BECOME DANGEROUS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

SNOW SHOWERS WILL PERSIST SUNDAY BEHIND THE COLD FRONT WITH
ACCUMULATIONS UP TO AN INCH. AFTER A SHORT BREAK SUNDAY NIGHT AND
EARLY MONDAY...UNSETTLED WEATHER WILL RESUME OVER THE REGION MONDAY
AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY WITH SNOW POSSIBLE EACH DAY...AS SEVERAL
WEATHER SYSTEMS MOVE ACROSS THE REGION.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER USING NORMAL
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

SMITH

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, S Lander & S Eureka

When: December 28, 4:00 PM PST
Where: S Lander & S Eureka forecast zone
Measured: 72 kt (83 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.959, -116.654 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, White Pine

When: December 28, 4:30 PM PST
Where: White Pine forecast zone
Measured: 77 kt (89 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.442, -114.902 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, White Pine

When: December 28, 10:30 PM PST
Where: White Pine forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.442, -114.902 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, White Pine

When: December 28, 11:00 PM PST
Where: White Pine forecast zone
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph)
Property damage: $500
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.442, -114.902 (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

Every storm in Nevada in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Nevada, December 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: 5325507, 5325506, 5325505, 5325504.