Nevada, 2002

Heavy Snow in Nevada, May 20 to 21, 2002

May 20 to 21, 2002 · NWS LKN · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

A late season winter storm moved across northern and east central Nevada with significant snowfall reported across much of the region above 5500 feet. Some of the amounts include 10 inches in the town of Lamoille and Emigrant Pass, 4-7 inches in Spring Creek, 7 inches in Austin, 6 inches at Wild Horse, 12 inches at the Lamoille snotel in Lamoille Canyon, and 10 inches at the Berry Creek snotel…

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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
6

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 LKN wrote it up.

A late season winter storm moved across northern and east central Nevada with significant snowfall reported across much of the region above 5500 feet. Some of the amounts include 10 inches in the town of Lamoille and Emigrant Pass, 4-7 inches in Spring Creek, 7 inches in Austin, 6 inches at Wild Horse, 12 inches at the Lamoille snotel in Lamoille Canyon, and 10 inches at the Berry Creek snotel in the Schell Creek range east of Ely.

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 Elko, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 20, 8:00 PM PST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 20, 8:00 PM PST, 2 hours before
NORTHERN GREAT BASIN FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV3
900 PM PDT MON MAY 20 2002

WILL UPDATE ZONES TO REMOVE SNOW ADVISORY FOR HUMBOLDT COUNTY
TONIGHT. PCPN ON RADAR SEEMS TO BE DISSIPATING FROM THE WEST AND IS
ALMOST OUT OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY. RAIN MOVEMENT IN EASTERN HUMBOLDT
COUNTY IS FROM THE NORTHWEST AND ECHOES ARE BEGINNNING TO LOOK
MORE LIKE EMBEDDED SHOWERS IN THE COLD AIR SECTOR OF THE STORM. MAIN
BAND OF NORTH MOVING PCPN IS STALLED OUT WEST OF ELKO. PCPN BAND
MATCHES WELL WITH MESOETA QPF THROUGH 06Z AND BY 09Z MESOETA SPREADS
THE PCPN OVER THE EASTERN PART OF THE CWA. THIS JIVES WELL WITH THE
CURRENT FORECAST FOR TONIGHT. SOME RAWS SITES HAVE REPORTED
SIGNIFICANT PCPN IN THE LAST FEW HOURS. THERE ARE STILL SLOW
MOVING ECHOES NEAR THEM AND THE TEMPS HAVE DROPPED TO AROUND
FREEZING. WILL LEAVE WINTER STORM WARNING AS IS FOR NOW IN ALL BUT
HUMBOLDT COUNTY. NEYMAN

.EKO...WINTER STORM WARNING ABOVE 5500 FEET NVZ031>037
       TONIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, S Lander & S Eureka

When
May 20, 10:00 PM PST to May 21, 7:00 AM PST
Where
S Lander & S Eureka forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
39.959, -116.654 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, N Lander & N Eureka

When
May 20, 11:00 PM PST to May 21, 8:00 AM PST
Where
N Lander & N Eureka forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
39.959, -116.654 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Ruby Mountains/E Humboldt Range

When
May 20, 11:30 PM PST to May 21, 5:00 PM PST
Where
Ruby Mountains/E Humboldt Range forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
40.294, -115.130 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Sw & Sc Elko

When
May 21, 12:30 AM PST to 11:00 AM PST
Where
Sw & Sc Elko forecast zone
Reported by
NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)

Heavy Snow, N Elko Cnty

When
May 21, 1:00 AM PST to 5:00 PM PST
Where
N Elko Cnty forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
41.146, -115.358 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, White Pine

When
May 21, 3:30 AM PST to 12:00 PM PST
Where
White Pine forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
39.442, -114.902 (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

More

Every storm in Nevada in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, May 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: 5325339, 5325340, 5325423, 5325338, 5325341, 5325424.