A Pacific storm moved through the central Sierra and western Nevada. This moist system dropped over a foot of snow in the Sierra and freezing rain in parts of western Nevada.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 Pacific storm moved through the central Sierra and western Nevada. This moist system dropped over a foot of snow in the Sierra and freezing rain in parts of western Nevada.
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 Dec 21, 2:29 PM PST, 1 hour 31 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
229 PM PST THU DEC 21 2006
.SHORT TERM...
WINTER OFFICIALLY STARTS AT 422 PM.
STRONGEST PORTION OF THE STORM WILL MOVE INTO THE SIERRA
IN THE NEXT COUPLE HOURS...THEN LAST UNTIL ABOUT 2AM. CONDITIONS
WILL GRADUALLY IMPROVE LATE TONIGHT FROM NORTH TO SOUTH. SYSTEM
SHOULD BE EAST OF THE AREA BY FRIDAY MORNING WITH LINGERING SNOW
SHOWERS. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS IN THE WINTER STORM STATEMENT
ARE ON TRACK...WITH SPECIFICS ON THE SNOW LEVEL DROP FOR EACH
AREA. SNOW LEVELS ARE CURRENTLY...6000-6500 FOR LASSEN
COUNTY...7000 FEET IN THE TAHOE BASIN...AND 7000-7500 FEET IN MONO
COUNTY. SNOW LEVELS WILL DROP FROM NORTH TO SOUTH AS THE COLD
FRONT TRACKS THROUGH THE AREA.
BIG QUESTION TONIGHT IS WILL THE SNOW LEVELS DROP LOW ENOUGH TO
CAUSE PROBLEMS IN THE NEVADA VALLEYS. SPILLOVER EVEN HAS BEGUN AND
WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MOST OF THE NIGHT. TIMING OF THE FRONT WOULD
BRING VALLEY FLOOR SNOW LEVELS TO I-80 BY MIDNIGHT AND SOUTH OF
HIGHWAY 50 WELL AFTER MIDNIGHT. MODELS ARE SHOWING THE PRECIP WILL
END WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE...LEAVING LIGHT POST FRONTAL AMOUNTS.
THINKING IS NO MORE THAN 2 INCHES WILL FALL...SO HAVE DECIDED TO
NOT ISSUE ANY SNOW ADVISORIES AT THIS TIME. BUT THIS EVENING SHIFT
WILL HAVE TO WATCH CLOSELY FOR ANY SUDDEN SNOW LEVEL DROPS THAT
COULD INCREASE VALLEY ACCUMULATIONS.
THE NEXT SYSTEM WILL REACH THE AREAS NORTH OF I-80 ON SATURDAY
NIGHT WITH MINIMAL ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. ANOTHER
SYSTEM COULD REACH NORTHEAST CALIFORNIA ON CHRISTMAS NIGHT...WITH
A SIMILAR MODEL SOLUTION AS THE CURRENT STORM. BRONG
.LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...
MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE HAVING TROUBLE AGREEING ON A SOLUTION FOR
OVER THE CHRISTMAS EVE/DAY PERIOD. THE GFS WHICH HAS BEEN SPEEDING
UP THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM HAS REMAINED FAIRLY CONSISTENT WITH THE 00Z
RUN. IT WOULD BRING ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM THROUGH THE AREA BEGINNING
OVERNIGHT ON THE 24TH AND THROUGH CHRISTMAS DAY. SNOW LEVELS LOOK TO
BE FAIRLY WARM...WITH SNOW LEVELS STARTING ABOVE 7000 FEET AND NOT
DROPPING BELOW 6000 FEET UNTIL MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING.
THE BULK OF THE PRECIP LOOKS TO FALL BETWEEN 18Z-06Z ON CHRISTMAS
DAY. HOWEVER THE 12Z EUROPEAN LOOKS VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE 00Z
RUN AND DOES NOT SUPPORT THIS SOLUTION. IT STILL KEEPS MORE OF A
FLAT RIDGE ACROSS THE REGION WITH 570DAM HEIGHTS OR HIGHER THROUGH
TUESDAY. THE EURO MOVES ITS VERSION OF THE TROUGH THROUGH THE AREA
LATER ON THE 26TH/27TH. THE GFS ENSEMBLES ARE ALSO SPLIT ON THE
FASTER OR SLOWER SOLUTION. THEREFORE WITH SUCH DISCREPANCY WITH
TIMING AND STRENGTH WILL MAKE LITTLE CHANGES TO PREVIOUS SHIFTS
GRIDS. TEMPERATURES SHOULD REMAIN NEAR NORMAL EARLY IN THE WEEK THEN
DROP BELOW NORMAL BEHIND THE NEXT TROUGH UNDER HIGH PRESSURE AND MDT
TO STRONG INVERSIONS. BENINATO
&&
.AVIATION...
CIGS/VSBYS FALLING ACROSS ROUTE 376 IN -RA/-SN SPREADING ACROSS THE
AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT. SNOW LEVELS AROUND 7500 FEET THIS AFTERNOON
WILL DROP TO VALLEY FLOORS OVERNIGHT. IFR CONDITIONS THIS
AFTERNOON/EVENING WILL DROP TO LIFR BY 02Z-04Z IN SNOW/FOG. FOR THE
KRNO AREA...RAIN SHOWERS WILL OCCUR THIS AFTERNOON AND CHANGE TO
SNOW SHOWERS AFTER 03Z. BENINATO
&&
.REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 8 AM PST FRIDAY FOR NVZ002.
CA...SNOW ADVISORY UNTIL 8 AM PST FRIDAY FOR CAZ071.
SNOW ADVISORY UNTIL 8 AM PST FRIDAY FOR CAZ073.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 8 AM PST FRIDAY FOR CAZ072.
&&
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RENOThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
A total of 14 inches of snow fell at an elevation of 8200 feet at Alpine Meadows Ski Resort.
At Northstar-at-Tahoe Ski Resort, total snowfall of 14 inches was reported at an elevation of 8300 feet with 10 inches reported at 6900 feet.
A trained spotter reported a total of 12 inches of snowfall at a location 1 mile WNW of Alpine Meadows.
A trained spotter reported 10 inches of snowfall at an elevation of 9000 feet 2 miles west of Mammoth Lakes.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 2006
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: 5519, 5534, 5535, 5485.