The Reno Gazette newpaper reported high winds all day. Winds were recorded at the Reno/Tahoe airport of gusting to 60 mph and at the Carson City airport to 62 mph causing some planes to be diverted.
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.
The Reno Gazette newpaper reported high winds all day. Winds were recorded at the Reno/Tahoe airport of gusting to 60 mph and at the Carson City airport to 62 mph causing some planes to be diverted. There was some minor damage to roof shingles and reports of some trees being blown over. Sparks had a power outage that lasted approximately 1 hour. Damage estimates are at $10,000.
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 Jan 21, 3:30 AM PST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.
WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
330 AM PST MON JAN 21 2002
COLD FRONT MOVING INTO NW CALIFORNIA WITH CLOUDS...SHOWERS AND GUSTY
WINDS. PLENTY OF COLD AIR EVIDENT ON SATELLITE BEHIND FRONT. FRONT
MOVES INTO NW NEVADA LATER THIS MORNING...THEN HANGS UP ALONG
SIERRA. WINDS ALREADY PICKING UP ACROSS WESTERN NEVADA EARLY THIS
AM. BELIEVE WINDS...NOT SNOW...WILL BE MAIN WEATHER ITEM OF CONCERN
TODAY AND THAT ADVISORY TYPE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL HOLD OFF FOR
THE SIERRA UNTIL THE TROF MOVES IN TONIGHT. AS SPEED MAX MOVES INTO
THE TAHOE AREA THIS AFTERNOON...OMEGA FIELDS INDUCE DOWNSLOPE WINDS
TO THE LEE OF THE SIERRA. WIND GUSTS LIKELY TO EXCEED 60 MPH THESE
AREAS PROMPT THE ISSUANCE OF A HIGH WIND WATCH. MEANWHILE SNOW
SHOWERS WILL CREATE AREAS OF REDUCED VISIBILITIES IN THE SIERRA BUT
LITTLE QPF TODAY. TONIGHT FRONT MOVES EAST AND COLD AIR PLUNGES INTO
THE AREA WITH 528 THICKNESS LINE NEAR RNO BY 12Z. WINDS WILL SUBSIDE
BUT SNOW IN UNSTABLE AIR MAY REACH ADVISORY CRITERIA IN THE
MOUNTAINS. WILL COVER ALL OF THIS WITH A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN
COORDINATION WITH STO.
TUESDAY A 150KT JET MOVES INTO THE PACIFIC NW AND INTO THE
SIERRA/WESTERN NEVADA BY 06Z. COLD WITH BRISK WINDS AND SCATTERED
SNOW SHOWERS TUESDAY BEFORE CLEARING AND COLD OVERNIGHT TUESDAY
NIGHT. WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY MODELS BUILD EASTERN PACIFIC RIDGE
BACK INTO THE AREA FOR A DRYING TREND. OVERRUNNING CLOUDS DEVELOP
FRIDAY AHEAD OF THE NEXT SYSTEM WHICH APPEARS TO MOVE IN A BIT
FASTER THAN PREVIOUS MODEL RUNS. THIS WILL BRING A RENEWED THREAT
OF PRECIPITATION SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. SG
.REV...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TODAY AND TONIGHT
CAZ070-072...NVZ002...NV005.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM THIS EVENING
NVZ004.
HIGH WIND WATCH UNTIL 9 PM THIS EVENING
NVZ003.
HIGH WIND WATCH THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT
NVZ001-CAZ073.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 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, January 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: 5279370.