A winter storm moved through the central Sierra and western Nevada but most snowfall amounts were less than 6 inches.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 winter storm moved through the central Sierra and western Nevada but most snowfall amounts were less than 6 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 Dec 16, 2:15 PM PST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV 215 PM PST SAT DEC 16 2006 .SHORT TERM...AXIS OF UPPER TROUGH MOVING ACROSS NRN CA WITH A NEGATIVELY TILTED ORIENTATION INCREASING DIVERGENCE ALOFT AND UPPER SUPPORT FOR SNOW SHOWERS ALONG SIERRA AND INTO WESTERN NV. STRONG DIVERGENCE ALOFT COMBINED WITH GOOD MID-LEVEL INSTABILITY IS PRODUCING LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW ALONG THE SIERRA FROM SOUTHERN LASSEN SOUTH AND IN THE WESTERN VALLEYS FROM MAINLY I-80 SOUTH AT THIS TIME. EXPECT SOME ENHANCEMENT OVERNIGHT AS AXIS OF TROWEL WITH THIS FEATURE ROTATES ACROSS WESTERN NV 00Z-06Z BEFORE WEAKENING AND MOVING EAST. CRITICAL ISSUE IS WHERE MESOSCALE SNOW BAND WILL SET UP IN WRAP-AROUND AS UPPER LOW CLOSES OFF SOUTH OF LAKE TAHOE AND THEN OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA BY 12Z. THIS MORNING BOTH GFS AND ETA POINTED TO A CARSON CITY-HAWTHORNE LINE BUT LATEST RUN OF THE ETA IS PULLING AXIS OF HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION MORE N-S FROM YERINGTON TO PYRAMID LAKE. EVENING SHIFT AND OVERNIGHT SHIFTS WILL HAVE TO MONITOR DEVELOPMENT AND MOVEMENT OF THE SNOW BAND. FOR NOW ADVISORY WAS ISSUED FOR THE WESTERN NV VALLEYS FROM HIGHWAY 50 SOUTH AND THIS MAY HAVE TO BE ADJUSTED NORTH. ADVISORY WAS ALSO ISSUED FOR THE SIERRA FROM TAHOE SOUTH AS CONVECTIVE SHOWERS COULD EASILY DROP 3 TO 6 INCHES THERE WITH SOME HIGHER AMOUNTS ABOVE 7000 FEET AND THAT ADVISORY LOOKS GOOD AT THIS TIME. TEMPERATURES BUMPED UP FOR TONIGHT SOUTH OF I-80. OVERNIGHT LOWS FOR SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY NIGHT WILL BE DEPENDENT ON SNOW COVER AND WILL HAVE TO BE ADJUSTED AFTER WE SEE WHAT HAPPENDS OVERNIGHT. JAH .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... RIDGE OVER THE AREA WEDNESDAY WILL BREAK DOWN THURSDAY AS A SYSTEM MOVES INTO THE PAC NW AND SAGS SOUTH INTO NORTHERN NV. HOW FAR SOUTH PRECIP GETS WILL BE DEPENDANT ON HOW STUBBORN THE RIDGE REMAINS BUT NOT LOOKING FOR ANY SIGNIFICANT PRECIP AT THIS TIME. RIDGE APPEARS TO REBUILD INTO THE AREA SATURDAY AHEAD OF ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM WHICH AGAIN LOOKS TO MAINLY IMPACT THE NOR CAL COAST INTO THE PAC NW. UNFORTUNATELY...NO SIGNIFICANT PRECIP EXPECTED ANY TIME SOON AS THE AREA WILL CONTINUE TO FALL FURTHER INTO THE WELL BELOW NORMAL PRECIP AND SNOWPACK FOR THE YEAR. MILNE && AVIATION... THIS AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT SNOWFALL TO INCREASE AND BRING CLOUD DECKS AT ALL TAF SITES EXCEPT LOVELOCK BELOW 1000 FEET AND VISIBILITIES BELOW 1SM DURING PERIODS OF MORE INTENSE SNOW. AS THE LOW MOVES EAST EARLY TOMORROW MORNING EXPECT IMPROVING CONDITIONS THROUGHOUT THE DAY. POSSIBLE DENSE FOG WITH STRONG VALLEY INVERSIONS IN THE SIERRA TAFS AND RENO SUNDAY MORNING INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK IF ENOUGH SNOWFALL STAYS ON VALLEY FLOORS. MILNE && .REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NV...SNOW ADVISORY UNTIL 8AM PST FOR NVZ001-NVZ004. CA...SNOW ADVISORY UNTIL 8AM PST FOR CA073...CA072. && HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RENO
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV 200 PM PST SAT DEC 16 2006 CAZ070>073-NVZ001>005-171500- SURPRISE VALLEY CALIFORNIA-LASSEN-EASTERN PLUMAS- EASTERN SIERRA COUNTIES-GREATER LAKE TAHOE AREA-MONO- MINERAL AND SOUTHERN LYON COUNTIES-GREATER RENO-CARSON CITY- MINDEN AREA-WESTERN NEVADA BASIN AND RANGE INCLUDING PYRAMID LAKE- NORTHERN WASHOE COUNTY- 200 PM PST SAT DEC 16 2006 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE EASTERN SIERRA... NORTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND WESTERN NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SNOW ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM PST SUNDAY...FOR MINERAL... SOUTHERN LYON...GREATER RENO-CARSON CITY-MINDEN AREA...WESTERN NEVADA BASIN AND RANGE INCLUDING PYRAMID LAKE...GREATER LAKE TAHOE AREA AND MONO COUNTIES. SEE THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER STATEMENT FROM RENO/WWUS45 KREV WSWREV/ FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY SNOW ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM SUNDAY MORNING...FOR MINERAL... SOUTHERN LYON...GREATER RENO-CARSON CITY-MINDEN AREA...WESTERN NEVADA BASIN AND RANGE INCLUDING PYRAMID LAKE...GREATER LAKE TAHOE AREA AND MONO COUNTIES. SEE THE LATEST WINTER WEATHR STATEMENT FROM RENO/WWUS45 KREV WSWREV/ FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
A total of 6.0 inches of snow fell in Virginia City.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, 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: 5479.