Nevada, 2002

High Wind in Nevada, February 7, 2002

February 7, 2002 · NWS REV · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Spotter report of wind gust to 77 mph in Reno.

Where it happened

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.

  • 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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 REV wrote it up.

Spotter report of wind gust to 77 mph in Reno.

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 Reno, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 7, 3:00 PM PST, 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 7, 3:00 PM PST, 52 minutes before
WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
300 PM PST THU FEB 7 2002

VERY STRONG BUT FAST MOVING COLD FRONT/TROUGH BEARING DOWN ON THIS
REGION TONIGHT. AVN MODEL HAD BEST HANDLE ON SURFACE WAVE
DEVELOPMENT AND SYSTEM OVERALL AND USED FOR FORECAST. WARM FRONT
MOVING THROUGH WESTERN NV THIS AFTERNOON WITH STRONG COLD FRONT JUST
MOVING ONSHORE EXTREME NW CALIFORNIA. 100+KT JET MAX MOVING THROUGH
BOTTOM OF TROUGH AS WELL JUST OFFSHORE NRN CALIFORNIA. TROUGH WILL
STOP DIGGING WITH PASSAGE OF THIS JET MAX AND WILL ACCELERATE
EASTWARD THIS EVENING. JET MAX FORECAST TO BE OVER LASSEN COUNTY AT
06Z AND THIS APPROACHING JET MAX IN COMBINATION WITH STRONG SURFACE
GRADIENT SHOULD HELP GENERATE STRONG PREFRONTAL WINDS NE
CALIFORNIA... NORTHERN SIERRA AND FAR WESTERN NEVADA. COLD FRONT
SHOULD BRING PERIOD OF HEAVY SNOW...MAINLY NE CALIFORNIA...FROM
ABOUT 6PM TO MIDNIGHT...WITH WINDS DECREASING AS HEAVIER PRECIP
MOVES IN FROM THE WEST. THUS EXPECT BLIZZARD CONDITIONS TO BE
LOCALIZED AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS.

SNOWFALL TO DECREASE TO SNOW SHOWERS RAPIDLY BEHIND FRONT AFTER
MIDNIGHT. BUILDING RIDGE SHOULD BRING CLEARING AND WARMER WEATHER
FOR WEEKEND.

EXTENDED...QUITE A BIT OF UNCERTAINTY IN MEDIUM RANGE MODELS AND
THEREFORE RELATIVELY LOW CONFIDENCE WITH RESPECT TO TIMING ANY
SYSTEMS INTO REGION FOR MON-THUR.  PER COORD WITH SURROUNDING
OFFICES AND TO AVOID CHANGING FCST WITH EACH MODEL RUN...WILL KEEP
GOING EXTENDED AS IS AND BROADBRUSH A CHANCE OF PCPN FOR THUR PERIOD
MAINLY N.  THIS IN LINE WITH HPC DISCUSSION THAT INDCS TREND TOWARD
A FLATTER PATTERN FOR ERN PAC/WRN CONUS REGION THAN INDICATED BY
MRF...WHICH WOULD RESULT IN FASTER FLOW.

.REV...WINTER STORM WARNING CAZ071 ABOVE 5000 FEET TIL MIDNIGHT.
    ...SNOW ADVISORY CAZ072 AND NV002 ABOVE 7000 FEET TONIGHT
    ...HIGH WIND WARNING CAZ070>072 NVZ002>003-005 TONIGHT

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, S Washoe T X Se & X Sw/Storey/E Carson City/C&e Douglas/Nw Lyon

When
February 7, 3:52 PM PST
Where
S Washoe T X Se & X Sw/Storey/E Carson City/C&e Douglas/Nw Lyon forecast zone
Measured
67 kt (77 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.511, -119.499 (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 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, February 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: 5280582.