A winter storm moved through northeast California and western Nevada on the 19th and 20th. Storm total snowfall amounts:Mt.
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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 winter storm moved through northeast California and western Nevada on the 19th and 20th. Two to three feet of snow fell in the higher elevations of the Sierra, with 6 to 8 inches reported in areas to the lee of the Sierra.Storm total snowfall amounts:Mt. Rose Ski Resort (summit) 22 inches (mid-mountain) 10 inches5 ENE Incline Village (7300 ft.) 20 inches1 NE Incline Village (6500 ft.) 15 inchesSpooner Summit 12 inches
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 19, 2:32 AM PST, 7 hours 28 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
232 AM PST SAT MAR 19 2005
.SHORT TERM...
PRECIPITATION HAS STARTED TO MOVE INTO THE SIERRA ATTM. RAIN HAS
FALLEN IN THE CENTRAL VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA ALL EVENING WITH SNOW
BEING REPORTED AT BLUE CANYON. SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWING VORT MAX
OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST MOVING EAST. CLOUD TOPS ARE STARTING TO
COOL OVER THE NORTHERN CA COAST AS THE 250 MB JET MAX APPROACHES.
STILL LOOKS LIKE A GOOD SNOW EVENT FOR THE SIERRA. PW VALUES OF
1.50 INCHES ON SATURDAY ALONE IN THE SIERRA...WITH ANOTHER 0.50 ON
SUNDAY. AS IN PREVIOUS RUNS MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW MOST OF THE
MOISTURE STAYING WEST OF THE CREST. HOWEVER STRONG DYNAMICS
ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER JET WILL HELP TO GENERATE PRECIP. WESTERLY
WINDS WILL ALSO ENHANCE OROGRAPHIC EFFECTS WITH SOME SPILLOVER
POSSIBLE ONTO EASTERN SLOPES. INITIALLY WARM AND FAIRLY DRY AIR
MASS OVER WESTERN NEVADA WILL KEEP SNOW LEVELS UP AROUND 6500 FEET
THIS MORNING. AFTER COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON COLD
AIR ADVECTION WILL BRING SNOW LEVELS DOWN ALMOST TO VALLEY FLOORS.
PRECIP IN WESTERN NEVADA VALLEYS SHOULD STAY MAINLY RAIN WITH SNOW
POSSIBLE IN THE FOOTHILLS AROUND 5000 FEET.
STRONG WINDS ARE A POSSIBILITY THIS AFTERNOON EAST OF THE SIERRA.
THE MILNE HIGH WIND ALGORITHM SHOWS FAVORABLE WIND DIRECTIONS AND
TEMPERATURE CRITERIA. WSETA SUPPORTS THIS WITH LOW LEVEL WINDS
MEETING ADVISORY CRITERIA IN ZONE 3. ZONE 1 COULD SEE LOCAL GUSTS
TO 60 MPH IN FAVORED AREAS BUT WILL KEEP WIND ADVISORY JUST IN ZONE
1 AS STRONGEST WINDS ARE PROGGED TO STAY NORTH. AS THE MAIN BAND OF
PRECIP MOVES IN LATER THIS AFTERNOON WITH THE FRONT...WIND SPEEDS
SHOULD DECREASE. WINDS WILL AGAIN BE STRONG ON SUNDAY ALONG THE
SIERRA AND INTO ZONE 3. A TROPICAL CONNECTION SETS UP ON MONDAY SO
PRECIP WILL CONTINUE THROUGH DAY THREE OF THE SHORT TERM. TEMPS
WILL REMAIN SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL FOR MID-MARCH. OHARA
.LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...
MEDIUM RANGE MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE SPLIT FLOW OVER THE EAST
PACIFIC WITH RATHER STRONG SOUTHERN STREAM. MOST SOLUTIONS TAKE MAIN
ENERGY SOUTH OF AREA ACROSS THE DESERT SOUTHWEST AND NORTHERN
MEXICO. THERE SEEMS TO BE SOME CONSENSUS AT LEAST BETWEEN THE ECMWF
AND GFS WITH EFFECTS OF JET DYNAMICS LATE MONDAY BEGINNING TO WANE
TUESDAY AS JET STREAM PUSHES SOUTH. THIS IS FOLLOWED BY PASSAGE OF
TROUGH AXIS TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY WITH ONLY SLIGHT CHANCES
FOR PRECIPITATION AND POSSIBLY A BREAK ALTOGETHER. MODELS DIVERGE A
BIT LATE WEEK AS PATTERN BEGINS TO UNDERGO SOME AMPLIFICATION. SO
FORECAST WILL CONTINUE A SLIGHT CHANCE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY UNTIL
MORE CONFIDENCE CAN BE GAINED. TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE CLOSE TO OR
JUST UNDER NORMAL LEVELS. HOHMANN
&&
.REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.NV...WINTER STORM WARNING NVZ002 ABOVE 6500 FEET UNTIL 10 PM SUN.
WIND ADVISORY NVZ003 THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
.CA...WINTER STORM WARNING CAZ071 ABOVE 5500 FEET UNTIL 10 PM SUN.
WINTER STORM WARNING CAZ072 ABOVE 6500 FEET UNTIL 10 PM SUN.
WINTER STORM WARNING CAZ073 ABOVE 6500 FEET UNTIL 10 PM SUN.
&&HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV 507 AM PST SAT MAR 19 2005 CAZ071>073-NVZ002-003-201500- GREATER LAKE TAHOE AREA-GREATER RENO-CARSON CITY-MINDEN AREA-LASSEN- EASTERN PLUMAS-EASTERN SIERRA COUNTIES-MONO- 507 AM PST SAT MAR 19 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NEVADA...THE EASTERN SIERRA...AND NORTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA.. .DAY ONE...TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO BRING RAIN AND SNOW TO THE SIERRA AND LAST THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND. SNOW LEVELS WILL START BETWEEN 6000 AND 6500 FEET AND THEN DROP SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. SEE WINTER STORM WARNING /WWUS45 KREV RNOWSWREV/ FOR DETAILS. AREA WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 20 TO 40 MPH BY THIS AFTERNOON IN THE RENO AND CARSON CITY AREAS. SEE WIND ADVISORY /WWUS75 KREV RNONPWREV/ FOR FURTHER DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... RAIN AND SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TUESDAY AS THIS SYSTEM PASSES THROUGH THE AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL AND/OR WIND DAMAGE ACCORDING TO ESTABLISHED CRITERIA. MCGUIRE
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, March 2005
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: 5470456.