A spotter in Fernley, Nevada reported areas of blowing dust with visibility in the region reduced to less than 1/4 mile at times.
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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.
A spotter in Fernley, Nevada reported areas of blowing dust with visibility in the region reduced to less than 1/4 mile at times.
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 May 19, 2:00 PM PST, 4 hours 45 minutes earlier.
WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
300 PM PDT SUN MAY 19 2002
THE COLD UPPER LOW IS NEAR 40/130W THIS AFTERNOON. A SHORT WAVE CAN
BE SEEN TURNING NE FROM UNDER THE LOW AND IS LIKELY ENHANCING RAIN
AND SNOW IN THE FRONTAL BAND THAT IS OVER NRN CA AND MOVING INTO THE
WEST SIDE OF THE NRN SIERRA THIS AFTERNOON. THUS...GENERALLY LIGHT
AMOUNTS ARE INDICATED OVER THE EAST SIDE OF THE SIERRA TONIGHT AS
THE FRONT CONTINUES EAST. A WIND ADVISORY IS CONTINUED FOR ALL OF
WRN NV THROUGH THIS EVENING AS THE FRONT PASSES. THERE SHOULD BE A
SLIGHT BREAK IN PRECIPITATION BEHIND THE FRONT LATER TONIGHT. THEN
ON MONDAY...STRONGER DYNAMICS IS EXPECTED TO BRING PERIODS OF HEAVY
SNOW TO THE SIERRA ALONG WITH POSSIBLY EMBEDDED CONVECTION. ANY
CONVECTION COULD CAUSE LOCALLY HEAVIER SNOWFALL. A WINTER STORM
WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT. BASED ON SNOW
LEVELS BEING SEEN IN NRN CA THIS AFTERNOON...THE COOLER AVN MODEL
FORECAST LOOKS A LITTLE BETTER AND SNOW LEVELS ARE ADJUSTED DOWN
SLIGHTLY TOWARD THE AVN SOLUTION. LOCAL HEAVY SNOW MAY CONTINUE
MONDAY NIGHT UNTIL THE NEGATIVELY TILTED UPPER TROUGH MOVES ACROSS
THE AREA LATER MONDAY NIGHT. SNOW LEVELS MONDAY NIGHT DIP TO THE
VALLEY FLOORS EXCEPT BELOW 4000 FEET IN WEST CENTRAL NV. TUESDAY IS
COOL WITH SNOW OR RAIN SHOWERS WITH THE AREA ON THE COLD SIDE OF THE
STILL CYCLONIC NORTHWESTERLY JETSTREAM. SNOW SHOWERS TAPER OFF
TUESDAY NIGHT AS THE TROUGH CONTINUES EAST. WARMING TEMPERATURES
ACCOMPANY RISING HEIGHTS WEDNESDAY ALTHOUGH SKIES REMAIN PARTLY
CLOUDY IN A MOIST NW FLOW ALOFT. OSTERMAN.
IN THE EXTENDED...AVN HAS BEEN VERIFYING WELL OF LATE AND WAS USED
FOR EXTENDED. LAST SEVERAL AVN RUNS HAVE BROUGHT INCREASED RIDGING
OVER CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA WITH POLAR JET GENERALLY REMAINING NORTH
OF 40N. WILL KEEP ALL ZONES DRY THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD BUT WILL
KEEP PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES IN NORTHERN ZONES AS SEVERAL SHORT WAVE
TROUGHS MOVE THROUGH PACIFIC NORTHWEST DURING PERIOD. WEAK UPPER LOW
DEVELOPS OFF NORTHERN BAJA/SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST DURING THIS
PERIOD AND AVN DRIFTS THIS LOW NORTHEASTWARD BY SUNDAY. ALTHOUGH DO
NOT SEE ANY GOOD MECHANISM FOR NORTHEASTWARD MOVEMENT UNTIL BEYOND
EXTENDED PERIOD WILL ACCOUNT FOR POSSIBLE AFTERNOON DESTABLIZATION
BY MENTIONING SOME CLOUDS SOUTHERN ZONES SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. LAMONI
.REV...WIND ADVISORY THROUGH THIS EVENING CAZ070>073 NVZ001>005
WINTER STORM WATCH MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT CAZ071>073 NVZ002.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 dust storm. 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, May 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: 5299742.