Ice Storm and Heavy Snow in Nevada, December 21 to 22, 2006

Name: Ice Storm and Heavy Snow in Nevada, December 21 to 22, 2006
Start: 2006-12-21T14:00
End: 2006-12-22T04:00
Location: Nevada

December 21 to 22, 2006 · NWS REV · 5 events in 2 counties and zones

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.

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: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $30,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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 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.

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 Reno, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 21, 9:15 AM PST, 4 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 21, 9:15 AM PST, 4 hours 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
915 AM PST THU DEC 21 2006

.UPDATED AGAIN...FREEZING RAIN IS NOW AFFECTING AREAS FROM LASSEN
COUNTY SOUTHWARD TO THE NORTHERN LAKE TAHOE BASIN. HAVE BUMPED UP
THE START TIME TO THE WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE TAHOE BASIN TO
RIGHT NOW  TRAVEL IN THE NORTHERN SIERRA HAS BECOME VERY
DIFFICULT THIS MORNING WITH ICY ROADS/FREEZING RAIN AND WILL ONLY
GET WORSE AS SNOW LEVELS DROP LATER TODAY.  SNOW IS RAPIDLY
ACCUMULATING OVER PASSES ALONG THE SIERRA CREST AND ABOVE 7000
FEET...AS A LARGE BAND AND MOIST PACIFIC AIR STREAMS INTO THE SIERRA.

MAIN CONCERN FOR THE NEVADA SIDE IS IF FREEZING RAIN WILL REACH THE
WESTERN NEVADA VALLEYS AS SPILLOVER BEGINS THIS AFTERNOON.  COLD AIR
REMAINS TRAPPED IN THE VALLEYS WITH MINIMAL WARMING SO FAR.  APPEARS
INVERSIONS MAY NOT GET MIXED OUT BY WINDS...AS PREVIOUSLY THOUGH.
ABOUT TO LAUNCH AN 18Z SOUNDING TO HELP WITH FREEZING RAIN POTENTIAL
IN THE RENO-CARSON AREA.  STAY TUNED...BRONG.

&&

.REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 8 AM FRIDAY FOR NVZ002.

CA...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 8 AM FRIDAY FOR CAZ072.
     FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY UNTIL 2 PM TODAY CAZ071.
     SNOW ADVISORY FROM 2 PM TODAY THROUGH 8 AM FRIDAY FOR CAZ071.
     SNOW ADVISORY FROM 5 PM TODAY THROUGH 8 AM FRIDAY FOR CAZ073.

&&

HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RENO

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 heavy snow, 2 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Ice Storm, Western Nevada Basin and Range

When: December 21, 2:00 PM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Western Nevada Basin and Range forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: Newspaper
Coordinates: 39.927, -118.898 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Icy conditions along Interstate 80 in Churchill County contributed to numerous traffic accidents. A woman was killed in an accident when her automobile hit a slick section of I-80. Her car went off the road and overturned approximately 17 miles east of Fernley just inside the Churchill County line.

Ice Storm, Western Nevada Basin and Range

When: December 21, 2:00 PM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Western Nevada Basin and Range forecast zone
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: Newspaper
Coordinates: 39.927, -118.898 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Numerous traffic accidents occurred on Interstate 80 in Churchill County the day after a winter storm left slick conditions across the region. Late on the morning of December 22nd two vehicles overturned on I-80 near mile markers 83 and 87. Two other accidents occurred at mile markers 60 and 61.

Heavy Snow, Western Nevada Basin and Range

When: December 21, 4:00 PM PST to December 22, 4:00 AM PST
Where: Western Nevada Basin and Range forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 39.927, -118.898 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A trained spotter 8 miles north of Imlay reported a total of 6 inches of snowfall.

Heavy Snow, Greater Lake Tahoe Area

When: December 21, 4:00 PM PST to December 22, 4:00 AM PST
Where: Greater Lake Tahoe Area forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 39.789, -119.640 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A trained spotter 2 miles NNE of Incline Village reported a total of 6 inches of snowfall.

Heavy Snow, Greater Lake Tahoe Area

When: December 21, 4:00 PM PST to December 22, 4:00 AM PST
Where: Greater Lake Tahoe Area forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 39.789, -119.640 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A trained spotter 2 miles ESE of Incline Village at an elevation of 6700 feet reported a total of 6 inches of snowfall.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Ice Storm, Western Nevada Basin and Range	2006-12-21	42	Female	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct

What these are

Ice Storm: Freezing rain accumulating a quarter inch or more of ice, or less where it caused significant damage.
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

Every storm in Nevada in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Nevada, December 2006

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: 6751, 6752, 5536, 5537, 5539.