Thunderstorm Wind, Washoe
- When
- July 21, 7:05 PM PST
- Where
- Washoe County, 3 mi NW of Nixon
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 39.867, -119.400
Damaging Wind in Nevada, July 21, 2002
Strong winds in association with severe thunderstorms. Gusts to 60 mph at 8:05 pm PDT at automated wind sensor near Pyramid Lake, NV.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. 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
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.
Strong winds in association with severe thunderstorms. Gusts to 60 mph at 8:05 pm PDT at automated wind sensor near Pyramid Lake, NV.
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 Jul 21, 2:12 AM PST, 16 hours 53 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 21, 2:12 AM PST, 16 hours 53 minutes before
WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV 245 AM PDT SUN JUL 20 2002 COMBINATION OF UPPER LOW OFF THE SOUTH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST AND DESERT SOUTHWEST HIGH PRESSURE BOTH MOVING NORTH GIVING THE CWA SOUTHERLY FLOW. SATELLITE LOOPS ARE IN AGREEMENT WITH RH PROGS SHOWING INCREASING 500 AND 600 MB RH. THIS WILL COMBINE WITH STRONG HEATING...UNSTABLE AIRMASS AND OROGRAPHICS TO INCREASE CONVECTION. WILL ADD SOME MENTION OF THUNDERSTORMS TO THE ENTIRE CWA. PRECIP WATER NOT INCREASING AND LOWER LAYERS REMAINING DRY SO SHOULD SEE STRONG WIND GUSTS WITH STORMS AND WILL ADD TO FORECAST. OTHERWISE TEMPS UP A FEW DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON. THE LOW CONTINUES UP THE COAST ON MONDAY WITH FLOW INCREASING A LITTLE AND TRENDING TO THE SOUTHWEST FOR MOST OF THE CWA. FOR NOW WILL GO ALONG WITH THE CURRENT FORECAST AND LIMIT CONVECTION TO ZONES 5 AND 71. AIRMASS IS STILL UNSTABLE A LITTLE FURTHER SOUTH OF THESE BUT WILL GO WITH THE DRYING IN THE SOUTHWEST FLOW. DAY SHIFT CAN LOOK AT THIS ON THE NEXT RUN. ON TUESDAY THE LOW REMAINS OFF THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST WITH THE HIGH OVER UTAH RESULTING IN DRY AND STABLE SOUTHWEST CWA WIDE WITH NO MENTION OF CONVECTION. LITTLE CHANGE IN TEMPS AS THEY CONTINUE ABOVE NORMAL. DONALDSON IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...THE UPPER LOW OFF NRN CA WEAKENS AND EJECTS WELL N OF NV WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. A VERY WEAK TROUGH REMAINS NEAR THE NW COAST THROUGH SATURDAY AS AN UPPER EAST/WEST RIDGE AXIS BUILDS SOUTH OF WRN NV. A WAVE MOVING AROUND THE WRN PERIPHERY OF THE SW HIGH BRUSHES JUST SOUTH OF MINERAL AND MONO COUNTIES WEDNESDAY WITH SOME CLOUDS. LIGHT LOW LEVEL SOUTHERLY FLOW WITH MARGINAL INSTABILITY REACHES AS FAR NORTH AS EXTREME SOUTHERN MONO OR SE MINERAL UNDER STRONGER SW WINDS ALOFT THURSDAY. THE UKMET AND MRF THEN HOLD THE E/W RIDGE WELL SOUTH OF THE AREA FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. THE CAN AND EURO SOLUTIONS TO BRING THE WEAK NW COAST TROUGH INLAND BY FRIDAY ARE UNLIKELY WITH THE STRONG HEATING THIS TIME OF YEAR. WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL BE STRONGER THAN RECENTLY WITH THE THERMAL TROUGH SHIFTING EAST ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN. THE STRONGEST WINDS SHOULD BE WEDNESDAY WITH THE EXITING LOW AND AGAIN NORTH SATURDAY IF A SHORT WAVE DROPS INTO THE NW COAST AS INDICATED IN THE MRF. OSTERMAN. .REV...NONE.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Jul 21, 3:27 PM PST, 3 hours 38 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO, NV
427 PM PDT SUN JUL 21 2002
TIME(PDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0805 PM 3 NW NIXON NV 60 MPH TSTM WIND GUST
07/21/02 WASHOE AUTOMATED WIND SENSOR AT
PYRAMIDThe radar
The Reno radar (KRGX), 14 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:04 UTC.
Event by event
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lightning Strike in Wisconsin, July 21, 2002
- Wildfire in California, July 21 to 31, 2002
- Wildfire in California, July 21 to 24, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, July 21, 2002
- Flash Flood and Hail in Nebraska, July 21, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 21, 2002
- Flood and Hail in Georgia, July 21, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 21, 2002
- Damaging Winds in South Dakota, July 21, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Iowa, July 21, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 21, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Iowa, July 21, 2002
More
Every storm in Nevada in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, July 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: 5314712.