Heavy Snow in Nevada, March 5 to 7, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Nevada, March 5 to 7, 2002
Start: 2002-03-05T14:30
End: 2002-03-07T14:30
Location: Nevada

March 5 to 7, 2002 · NWS REV · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Mt. Rose ski area reported heavy snow with a storm total of 26-38 inches in 48 hours at 8840 feet.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

Mt. Rose ski area reported heavy snow with a storm total of 26-38 inches in 48 hours at 8840 feet.

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 Mar 5, 9:30 AM PST, 5 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 5, 9:30 AM PST, 5 hours before

WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
930 AM PST TUE MAR 5 2002

COMPLEX PATTERN OF THREE VORT CENTERS IN ERN PAC STRUNG OUT ALONG
40 N AND FORECAST TO EJECT EWD AHEAD OF UPPER TROUGH DROPPING S FM
GULF OF ALASKA AND WRN CANADA. MESO MODELS FORECAST LEADING EDGE OF
PCPN MOVING INTO NRN SIERRA AROUND 03Z. RADAR SHOWING LIGHT SHOWERS
MOVING ONTO NW CA CST THIS MRNG WHICH WOULD EXTRAPOLATE TO TAHOE
AREA AROUND 03Z. SNOW LEVELS IN TAHOE AREA STARTING OUT AROUND
5500-6000 FEET WITH LTL CHANGE INTO WED. COLDER AIR LOWERING SNOW
LEVELS WED NGT TO NEAR VLY FLOORS. QPFS WOULD SUPPORT W.S. WATCH
FOR SIERRA ZONES WED AND THURS ESPECIALLY ABOVE 6000 FEET. MOD
WSW WINDS OF AROUND 40 KTS AT 700 MB SUPPORT QPF MODELS KEEPING
E SIDE OF SIERRA RELATIVLY DRY UNTIL COLD FRONT PUSHES THROUGH ON
THURSDAY. UPDATES THIS MORNING TO HOIST LAKE WIND ADVISORY FOR
LAKE TAHOE AND BOOST WINDS A LITTLE IN NRN CWA IN LINE WITH MOS
AND CURRENT WIND SPEEDS. CYLKE

.REV...WINTER STORM WATCHES ZONE 2/72 WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY
       FOR ZONE 71 WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY
       AND FOR ZONE 73 ABOVE 5000 FEET ON THURSDAY

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Greater Lake Tahoe Area

When: March 5, 2:30 PM PST to March 7, 2:30 PM PST
Where: Greater Lake Tahoe Area forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 39.789, -119.640 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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, March 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: 5286136.