A strong late-winter storm brought locally heavy snow to the east slopes of the Sierra and in western Nevada starting on April 12 and lasting in the mountains until the morning of April 14.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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.
A strong late-winter storm brought locally heavy snow to the east slopes of the Sierra and in western Nevada starting on April 12 and lasting in the mountains until the morning of April 14.
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 Apr 12, 3:30 PM PST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
430 PM PDT SAT APR 12 2003
COLD UPPER LOW OFF ABOUT 550 MILES OFF THE WASHINGTON COAST WITH
SPLIT SOUTHERN BRANCH OF THE JETSTREAM DRIVING VORTICITY CENTERS
AROUND THE LOW. FIRST VORTICITY CENTER WILL APPROACH THE SIERRA
TONIGHT...BRINGING PERIODS OF SNOW TO THE SIERRA WITH SCATTERED RAIN
AND SNOW SHOWERS TO THE WESTERN NEVADA VALLEYS. STRONG UPPER
DIVERGENCE AND COLD AIR ADVECTION AIDED BY STRONG OROGRAPHIC AND
FAVORABLE JET DYNAMICS MEAN THIS WILL BE A MAJOR SNOW PRODUCER FOR
THE SIERRAS. SNOW LEVELS WILL START OUT NEAR 6000 FEET IN THE
NORTH TO 7500 FEET IN MONO COUNTY...BUT LOWER RAPIDLY TONIGHT OVER
THE SIERRAS AS A COLD FRONT HANGS ALONG THE MOUNTAINS. SNOW LEVELS
LOWER TO 5000 FEET IN THE VALLEYS TONIGHT AS WELL. STEADIER SNOW
SHOWERS WITH MODEST ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE TONIGHT IN THE
FOOTHILLS OF THE RENO AREA ABOVE 5000 FEET AS WELL. WINTER STORM
WARNINGS POSTED FOR THE MOUNTAINS COVER THIS SCENARIO WELL.
AS FAR AS WINDS GO...H7 WINDS OF 45 KTS AND SURFACE GRADIENT OF
AROUND 7 MB DESPITE CLOSE LOCATION OF SURFACE LOW. ADVISORY SHOULD
COVER THIS EARLY THIS EVENING BUT WILL HAVE TO REMAIN ALERT TO THE
POSSIBILITY OF A HIGH WIND WARNING AS THE 100KT JET MOVES OVER THE
AREA. SOUTHERLY SURFACE GRADIENT NOT FAVORABLE FOR WAVE REACHING
THE GROUND BUT WILL MONITOR.
SECOND VORTICITY CENTER ROTATES AROUND LOW SUNDAY AFTERNOON.
STRONGEST DYNAMICS SHIFT TO MONO COUNTY BUT STEADY SNOW WILL
CONTINUE IN THE SIERRA SO WARNING FOR THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH SUNDAY
LOOKS GOOD. COLDER AIR MOVES THROUGH THE REGION SUNDAY NIGHT AS
WEAKENING...SPLITTING UPPER TROF MOVES THROUGH BY MONDAY. THIS
STORM COULD DROP 3 TO 4 FEET OF SNOW OVER THE SIERRA CREST...WITH
OVER ONE FOOT AT LAKE TAHOE...AND LOCAL 4 TO 8 INCH AMOUNTS IN THE
FOOTHILLS OF HIGHER VALLEYS BY LATE SUNDAY. SG
IN THE EXTENDED...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...A NEW TROUGH/UPPER
LOW MOVES TO NEAR THE CA COAST WEDNESDAY AND THEN SHIFTS SLOWLY EAST
AND INLAND THURSDAY. LOW AND MAIN DYNAMICS GO BY SOUTH OF THIS AREA
BUT WE WILL LIKELY GET SHOWERS AND POSSIBLY SOME THUNDERSTORMS UNDER
THE TROUGH. CHANCE OF SHOWERS DECREASES FRIDAY AS THE LOW MOVES
EAST AND THEN ENDS SATURDAY WITH A RIDGE BUILDING IN FROM THE
NORTHWEST. COREY
.REV...WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH SUNDAY CAZ071-073 AND NVZ002
WIND ADVISORY THROUGH THIS EVENING CAZ070>073-NVZ001>005
SNOW ADVISORY TONIGHT NVZ003.CAZ070>073-NVZ001>005-131400- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV 600 AM PDT SAT APR 12 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NEVADA...THE EASTERN SIERRA AND NORTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY... RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS WILL INCREASE OVER THE SIERRA AND NORTHEAST CALIFORNIA TODAY AS A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM APPROACHES. SNOW WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. WINTER STORM WARNINGS HAVE BEEN POSTED FOR PARTS OF EASTERN CALIFORNIA...SEE WWUS45 KREV FOR DETAILS. STRONG WINDS AHEAD OF THE STORM WILL PRODUCE AREAS OF BLOWING DUST AND SAND IN WESTERN NEVADA VALLEYS. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR TODAY..SEE WWUS75 KREV FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY HEAVY SNOW WILL CONTINUE OVER PARTS OF EASTERN CALIFORNIA SUNDAY THEN DECREASE TO SNOW SHOWERS BY SUNDAY EVENING. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS COULD REACH 2 TO 3 FEET AT UPPER ELEVATIONS IN THE SIERRA BY SUNDAY EVENING. NO WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WIND OR SNOWFALL THIS WEEKEND.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Thirty inches of new snow fell in Incline Village in 23 hours at about 7000 foot elevation.
Mt. Rose ski area reported a storm total of 40 inches of new snow.
The NWS cooperative observer at Glenbrook, NV, on the east side of Lake Tahoe, reported 22 inches of new snow in 24 hours.
Five inches of snow overnight in Virginia City.
Five inches of snow at the 5000 foot elevation in west Reno.
Four inches of snow fell overnight in the Red Rock area, about 10 miles northwest of Reno.
Four inches of snow reported at Stead.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, April 2003
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: 5353448, 5353452, 5353453, 5353449, 5353450, 5353451, 5353454.