A record-breaking heat wave affected the eastern Sierra and western Nevada during the last two weeks of July. The main area affected was western Nevada where over 50 high temperature records, and warm minimum temperature records, were either tied or broken at various locations throughout the latter half of the month.
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 record-breaking heat wave affected the eastern Sierra and western Nevada during the last two weeks of July. The main area affected was western Nevada where over 50 high temperature records, and warm minimum temperature records, were either tied or broken at various locations throughout the latter half of the month. As in past heat waves, temperatures during the afternoon at valley locations across western Nevada rose to above 100 degrees. However, it was the warm nighttime temperatures that made this heat wave nearly unprecedented. These warm nighttime readings in Reno might have been exacerbated by the urban heat island effect that the city has been experiencing during at least the last decade. But smaller towns across the region also experienced very warm nighttime temperatures. Some of the records that were broken or tied:New warmest maximum temperature records set: Previous Date Location Temp Record (Year)July 18 Reno 104 103 (1988)July 26 Virginia City 94 92 (1996)Warmest maximum temperature records tied: Previous Date Location Temp Record (Year)July 17 Virginia City 96 96 (2005)July 22 Virginia City 95 95 (2003)July 24 Reno 101 101 (1980)New warmest minimum temperature records set: Previous Date Location Temp Record (Year)July 18 Minden 63 60 (1929)July 19 Reno 74 72 (2003) Carson City 65 63 (2003) Minden 63 59 (2003)July 20 Minden 63 60 (2003)July 21 Minden 64 63 (1936)July 23 Reno 77 72 (2003) Minden 68 63 (1931)July 24 Reno 73 72 (2003) Carson City 69 64 (2003) Minden 65 63 (1931)July 25 Virginia City 73 69 (1975) Reno 72 67 (2003) Minden 62 60 (1933)July 26 Reno 66 64 (2003)Warmest minimum temperature records tied: Previous Date Location Temp Record (Year)July 17 Virginia City 71 71 (1984)July 18 Virginia City 70 70 (2005)July 23 Carson City 69 69 (1959)July 26 Virginia City 70 70 (1975)
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 Jul 15, 1:45 PM PST, 10 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV 245 PM PDT SAT JUL 15 2006 .SHORT TERM... STRONG UPPER RIDGE OVER GREAT BASIN WILL BE MAIN FEATURE INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. MAIN CHANGES TO FORECAST WERE TO WARM HIGH TEMPERATURES FOR MON-TUE PERIOD. ALL MODELS SHOW 595+ DM HIGH CENTERED OVER UTAH INTO TUESDAY WHICH WILL BRING HOT TEMPERATURES TO THE AREA. SO FAR...MOS HAS BEEN UNDERDOING FORECAST HIGHS FOR THIS PATTERN...AND IT STILL LOOKS COOL. FOR EXAMPLE...HIGH IN RENO YESTERDAY WAS 98 WITH 15 C H7 TEMPS. FORECAST FOR MON-TUE IS FOR 18 C TEMPS IF NOT 19 C ON THE NAM-WRF BUT MOS ONLY GOING 99 OR SO. FIGURE WE WILL BE CLOSER TO 105 WITH THAT WARMING AND WE WILL BE SEEING NEAR RECORD HIGHS. IT ALSO MAKES SENSE THAT WE SHOULD WARM A LITTLE EACH DAY AS WE ERODE THE MID-LEVEL CAP. OTHER IMPLICATION WITH WARMING AND THE GRADUAL EROSION OF THE CAP WILL BE INCREASING INSTABILITY. AT THIS TIME...WILL BE REMOVING MENTION OF STORMS TODAY ACROSS THE SOUTH AS VERY LITTLE CU FORMATION. TOMORROW...WILL LIKELY SEE MORE BUILDUPS ACROSS MONO-MINERAL COUNTIES WITH AN OUTSIDE CHANCE OF A THUNDERSTORM. AT THIS POINT...BELIEVE THUNDERSTORM CHANCE IS TOO REMOTE TO MENTION AFTER TODAYS RELATIVE LACK OF DEVELOPMENT. HOWEVER...WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE STORMS ADDED BACK BY MID SHIFT IF EVENING DEVELOPMENT IS BETTER THAN EXPECTED. BY MONDAY AND TUESDAY WHEN WE HIT OUR HOTTEST TEMPS...EXPECT ISOLATED CONVECTION TO BEGIN POPPING. TYPICALLY...CONVECTION BEGINS ON THE HOTTEST DAY IN MOST CASES WITH GRADUAL COOLING THEREAFTER. HAVE THUNDERSTORMS UP TO HIGHWAY 50 FOR MONDAY AND ON TUESDAY HAVE ALSO SPREAD THUNDERSTORMS NORTH INTO LASSEN COUNTY DESPITE LIGHT WESTERLY FLOW UP THERE. WITH THERMAL TROUGH NEARBY AND CONVERGENCE ZONE IN LEE OF LASSEN PEAK...A COUPLE STORMS COULD FIRE. OTHER FEATURE OF INTEREST IS LARGE INVERTED TROF OVER NORTHERN MEXICO. AT THIS POINT...LOW WILL BE MOVING OFF THE COAST ON TUE...BUT EXPECT SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE INCREASE FROM THIS FEATURE TO HOLD OFF UNTIL EXTENDED PERIOD. WALLMANN .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW STRONG HIGH PRESSURE MOVING OFF TO THE EAST NEXT WEEK WITH PLENTY OF MOISTURE ADVECTING NORTH AROUND RIDGE. THERE IS ALSO AN EASTERLY WAVE OVER NORTH CENTRAL MEXICO WHICH WILL MOVE WEST AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF THE RIDGE. BY WEDNESDAY THE WAVE WILL BE LOCATED SOMEWHERE OFF OF THE SRN CA COAST AND WILL MOVE SLOWLY NORTH. THE MAIN MODEL CONSENSUS PUSHES THE LOW TO THE NORTHWEST TO NEAR 35N 130W BY LATE NEXT WEEK. THIS IS A CHANGE FROM THE EARLIER RUNS WITH THE LOW CLOSER TO THE COAST. EITHER WAY MOISTURE WILL INCREASE IN STRENGTHENING SOUTHERLY FLOW. THIS COMBINED WITH SURFACE TEMPERATURES NEAR 100 DEGREES WILL PRODUCE PLENTY OF INSTABILITY AND AFTERNOON AND EVENING CONVECTION. TSTMS WILL DEVELOP IN MINERAL COUNTY AND ALONG THE SIERRA ALL THE WAY UP TO LASSEN COUNTY BY WEDNESDAY...THEN SPREAD NORTH AND INCREASE IN COVERAGE ACROSS THE ENTIRE CWA BY THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. TSTMS WILL BE WET AS PW VALUES WILL CLIMB TO 0.75-1.0 INCHES AND LIGHT FLOW WILL ALLOW FOR SLOW MOVING STORMS. POPS WERE INCREASED FURTHER...AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF NOCTURNAL STORMS WAS ADDED FOR THURSDAY NIGHT AS INCREASED ENERGY EAST OF LOW OFF OF CA COULD PUSH ADDITIONAL SHORT WAVES NORTH. TEMPERATURES WILL COOL SLIGHTLY TOWARD THE END OF THE WEEK DUE TO CLOUD COVER AND CONVECTION. BENINATO && .AVIATION... VFR THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON. BENINATO && .REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NV...NONE. CA...NONE. &&
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
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, July 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: 5521690.